Offense Galore as No. 15/17 DePaul and St. John's Collide

CHICAGO – Welcome to the "Sheffield Speedway."

Strap it in and get ready to enjoy life in the fast lane as the two most explosive offenses in the BIG EAST---No. 15/17 DePaul and St. John's---floor the accelerator at high noon on Sunday before a FS1 national TV audience and a revved-up partisan fan base at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

DePaul (14-2, 4-0 in the BIG EAST) comes into the game as the nation's third-highest scoring team averaging nearly 87 points a game. St. John's (10-6, 3-2) is No. 2 in the BIG EAST averaging nearly 76 points a game.

Both of these highly entertaining programs operate in an expeditious manner coated with a sense of immediacy. Blue Demon Hall of Fame finalist coach Doug Bruno encourages his players to launch at the first good look they get with no regrets while also instilling his share-the-ball philosophy.

The results speak for themselves. Bruno's team leads the nation in assists and is second in the country in three-pointers and three-point attempts. They speed up tempo defensively with a full-court press that has them No. 2 nationally in turnover margin, No. 4 in steals and No. 6 in turnovers forced.

In the last nine games, they have forced opponents into an average of more than 23 turnovers. That jump-starts an opportunistic attack featuring double-figure scorers Chante Stonewall (18.3 points a game), Sonya Morris (16.2 points) and Lexi Held (14.5 points).

Right behind them ready to break into double-digit territory are Deja Church (9.9 points a game) and Dee Bekelja (9.1).

The glue of the team and orchestrator of Bruno's creation is gritty and physical point guard Kelly Campbell whose steady hand leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio. Her impact all over the court left her one assist shy of a second career triple-double when she put up 12 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in a win at Notre Dame.

Combining all of the above along with the continuing development of 6-foot, 2-inch junior college transfer Kiara Dallmann and additional depth from Jolene Daninger and Maya Stovall has DePaul shooting for its sixth-straight win on Sunday.

St. John's will come storming into Lincoln Park featuring an offense with four players averaging in double figures led by Qadashah Hoppie at 17.1 points a game. Bruno & Co. will also keep a close watch on Leilani Correa (13.5 points), Alissa Alston (10.8 points) and Tiana England at 10.3 points a game.

The Johnnies are averaging 75.7 points per game and had won four in a row before stumbling against Villanova and at Marquette on Friday night. Hoppie has knocked down 44 shots from three-point range while Alston is the most accurate from long range at 48.5 percent.

Nobody will be shy about launching from distance on Sunday as DePaul has converted 180 threes while the Red Storm has 120.

Offense Galore as No. 15/17 DePaul and St. John's Collide

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Players Mentioned

Dee Bekelja

Kelly Campbell

Deja Church

Kiara Dallmann

Jolene Daninger

Lexi Held

Sonya Morris

Chante Stonewall

Maya Stovall