No. 24 DePaul vs. No. 17/17 Marquette for BIG EAST Title

Tuesday, March 12

Wintrust Arena

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

Marquette

No. 24 DePaul vs. No. 17/17 Marquette for BIG EAST Title

3/12/2019 12:22:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Ticket Info Live Stats Watch De Paul Notes

Blue Demons will be going for their 11th win in a row Tuesday night at Wintrust Arena

CHICAGO – Batten down the hatches and secure your belongings because there's going to be all kinds of turbulence in the South Loop on Tuesday night.

That's when No. 24 DePaul (25-7) and No. 17/17 Marquette (26-6) collide in the long-anticipated showdown for the BIG EAST Conference tournament championship.

It promises to be an explosive confrontation of two teams who operate at warp speed and rely on calculators to interpret their glossy offensive numbers.

Such an appealing matchup is worthy of a national TV audience, and FS1 will provide the coverage with Lisa Byington and Sarah Kustok on the call.

No. 1 seed Marquette and the second-seeded Blue Demons will step onto the Wintrust Arena court combining to average more than 164 points per game. Don't be surprised if one or both up-tempo attacks have 90 or more at the final buzzer.

In their two conference confrontations this winter, Marquette won 96-63 in Milwaukee and came away with a 93-87 win at McGrath-Phillips Arena. In last year's BIG EAST title game, the Blue Demons cruised to a record-breaking 98-63 triumph that set a BIG EAST tournament record for most points in a title game.

In fact, Tuesday will become only the third time in conference tournament history that the same BIG EAST adversaries clashed three years in a row. The first time was Connecticut-Providence in 1989 to 1991. Connecticut and Notre Dame went head-to-head from 2011 to 2013.

DePaul's All-BIG EAST Second Team junior Chante Stonewall will look to follow up a milestone accomplishment from Monday when her 12 points in the 80-69 win over Creighton made her the 38th player in program history to score 1,000 points during her DePaul career.

All-BIG EAST First Team senior Mart'e Grays has enjoyed considerable success this season in a new role as the team's go-to scorer in the paint. Primarily a perimeter player until this year, Grays has fully embraced becoming a nearly unstoppable inside force which helps free up dangerous three-point shooters such as Ashton Millender, unanimous All-BIG EAST Freshman Team guard Lexi Held and Stonewall.

Doing her damage primarily in the blocks, Grays has averaged 18.1 points over her last 10 games. At the same time, this multi-dimensional forward remains a legitimate three-point threat.

Ashton Millender and Kelly Campbell are the other two components in DePaul's "Core Four" that will have a major impact on Tuesday night's title tilt.

The Blue Demons' defensive intensity and their relentless resolve in the fourth quarter of close games will need to be at optimum efficiency against a talented Marquette team that is led by four athletic and gifted seniors.

Natisha Hiedeman was the leading scorer during the BIG EAST Conference season and was honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Year. The 2018 Player of the Year is teammate Allazia Blockton whose season was interrupted by injury. Danielle King and Amani Wilborn are fully capable of carrying the Golden Eagles when the need arises.

Defending champion DePaul will be shooting for its fourth conference tournament title in the last six years---a feat that would definitely enhance the Blue Demon resume heading into NCAA tournament season.