No. 14/15 DePaul Goes for Seventh in a Row

CHICAGO – The lone undefeated team in the BIG EAST is focused on maintaining its momentum heading into a pair of conference games this weekend.

After rising to No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 15 in the coaches poll, DePaul (15-2, 5-0) will take the Cintas Center court at 6 p.m. Friday to face Xavier (2-14, 1-4) shooting for its seventh win in a row.

The AP ranking is the Blue Demons' highest since finishing the 2010-11 season at No. 9 in the final poll. That season, DePaul was No. 12 on Feb. 28, 2011 and a program-best No. 7 on Feb. 21.

Another indicator of where coach Doug Bruno's team stands in relation to the rest of the NCAA field, Chante Stonewall, Kelly Campbell & Co. are No. 11 in this week's NCAA RPI rating.

Helping sustain the nation's leader in assists and No. 2 in three-pointers is the dynamic senior tandem of Stonewall and Campbell whose leadership and blue-collar work ethic have inspired their teammates and delighted their coaches.

Stonewall leads the team in scoring at 18.1 points a game and in steals with 49. The versatile 6-foot, 1-inch small forward who spearheads the full-court press is No. 7 in the country in field goals and No. 14 in steals.

Campbell is the glue that binds this latest Bruno creation as the point guard leading the team in rebounding and assists and second in steals. The ultimate in consistency, the 5-10 performer leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio and is ninth in assists.

On the rare occasion when Stonewall or Campbell is off their game, the Blue Demons have the depth to compensate. Sophomores Sonya Morris (16.2 points per game) and Lexi Held (14.2 points) are explosive scorers as evidenced by Morris' career-high 29 points at No. 8/7 Oregon State and duplicated at Notre Dame.

Held has emerged as a dangerous scoring threat and was at her clutch best scoring 23 points in a 74-71 victory at Creighton earlier this month. The 5-10 guard scored 16 points in the second half including a trio of game-defining threes in the fourth quarter.

After transferring from Michigan and then missing three games with an injury, multi-talented guard Deja Church (10.3 points per game) is only getting better and better as the junior guard makes the transition to "DePaulball."

Dee Bekelja has been this team's igniter off the bench averaging more than nine points a game and often providing instant offense. Another player Bruno anticipates rounding into form is 6-2 forward Kiara Dallmann who lends a strong presence inside. After transferring from Iowa Western junior college where she led the nation in field goal percentage as a freshman, Dallmann missed the first seven weeks because of injury.

Going deeper into the lineup, Bruno can also call upon sophomore sharpshooter Jolene Daninger and fast-moving sophomore guard Maya Stovall for additional depth and quality minutes. There is even more with the potential of timely contributions from talented freshmen Marisa Warren, Kayla Caudle, Keke Rimmer, Nadège Jean and Hannah Purcell.

Xavier won its season opener before losing 13 in a row. The Musketeers are 2-14 on the season and 1-4 in BIG EAST play. Their top player is A'rianna Gray who is averaging 16.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. Morgan Sharps, Lauren Wasylson and Aaliyah Dunham have combined to hit 84 three-pointers.

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Players Mentioned

Dee Bekelja

Kelly Campbell

Kayla Caudle

Deja Church

Kiara Dallmann

Jolene Daninger

Lexi Held

Sonya Morris

Hannah Purcell

Keke Rimmer

Chante Stonewall

Maya Stovall

Marisa Warren