Friday, January 24
McGrath-Phillips Arena
7:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
18-2,8-0Big East
85
vs
69
Villanova
11-8,5-3Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Villanova
12
22
18
17
69
DePaul
26
17
27
15
85
No. 11/12 DePaul Wins Ninth in a Row as Morris Goes for 30
1/24/2020 9:51:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sophomore guard sets career high in 85-69 victory over Villanova
CHICAGO – The longer the winning streak, the bigger the target on No. 11/12 DePaul's collective back.
Villanova gave it a shot Friday night hoping to stain the Blue Demons' spotless BIG EAST record, but DePaul spoiled the upset bid with an 85-69 victory at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
It was the ninth win in a row improving the overall record to 18-2 and 8-0 in the conference.
Sonya Morris was the lightning rod for an electric offense scoring a career-high 30 points while adding six rebounds, five assists and tying a career high with five steals. Fellow sophomore Lexi Held finished with 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Deja Church turned in another strong performance with 12 points and six boards while Chante Stonewall contributed 10 points, anchored the full-court press and combined with Kelly Campbell to contain the BIG EAST's leading scorer Maddy Siegrist who scored four points in the first half and finished with 19. Campbell scored five points and turned in game highs with 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Leading 43-34 at halftime, the Blue Demons scored the first five points of the third quarter courtesy of a Church jumper and a Morris three-point play. After Held hit another from distance, Villanova came within 51-41.
That's when Stonewall, Campbell and Morris ignited a 7-0 spurt for a 58-41 lead at the third quarter media timeout. Morris was particularly active in the third quarter flying in for rebounds and moving all over the court. Her three-pointer provided a 20-point lead.
After the Wildcats (11-8, 5-3) scored six straight, Church hit a jumper and converted a three-point play. Another Church score and Morris' layup just before the buzzer gave the home team a 70-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Morris continued to sparkle, opening the final stanza with a three. She hit a jumper to give her a career-high 30 points and Campbell followed with a layup off a Morris feed. Held hit another jumper for an 81-65 advantage at the fourth quarter media timeout. Soon after, DePaul coach Doug Bruno brought in the reserves.
Held came out like she meant business right from the opening tip. The sophomore guard scored seven quick points and ignited an 8-2 run that put her team in front 13-5 at the first quarter media timeout.
She appeared more aggressive than usual, taking the opening tip and driving past two Villanova defenders for a layup. Held hit another three extending the run to 11-2 and giving her 10 points in just the first six minutes.
Playing with a noticeable intensity and energy, the Blue Demons went on a 10-0 run behind Morris, Stonewall and Held in opening up a 26-12 gap after one quarter. Held already had a dozen points by then while Morris added seven and Stonewall six.
After one of Church's patented drives to the hoop, Villanova went on an 8-2 burst in cutting its deficit to single digits (33-24) at the second quarter media timeout. It was the closest the Wildcats had been since the middle of the first quarter.
A Maya Stovall three-pointer and another Morris bucket restored a double-digit margin at 41-31. The Wildcats had closed to 41-34 when Stonewall scored to make it 43-34 at halftime.
The talented sophomore tandem of Morris and Held combined for 29 points in the first 20 minutes and Stonewall had eight points at the break. The DePaul senior's dedicated defensive effort against Maddy Siegrist limited the league's leading scorer to four points in the first half.
Bruno & Co. will shoot for 10 in a row Sunday against Georgetown at McGrath-Phillips Arena with a 2 p.m. tipoff.
Postgame Notes
Villanova gave it a shot Friday night hoping to stain the Blue Demons' spotless BIG EAST record, but DePaul spoiled the upset bid with an 85-69 victory at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
It was the ninth win in a row improving the overall record to 18-2 and 8-0 in the conference.
Sonya Morris was the lightning rod for an electric offense scoring a career-high 30 points while adding six rebounds, five assists and tying a career high with five steals. Fellow sophomore Lexi Held finished with 21 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Deja Church turned in another strong performance with 12 points and six boards while Chante Stonewall contributed 10 points, anchored the full-court press and combined with Kelly Campbell to contain the BIG EAST's leading scorer Maddy Siegrist who scored four points in the first half and finished with 19. Campbell scored five points and turned in game highs with 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Leading 43-34 at halftime, the Blue Demons scored the first five points of the third quarter courtesy of a Church jumper and a Morris three-point play. After Held hit another from distance, Villanova came within 51-41.
That's when Stonewall, Campbell and Morris ignited a 7-0 spurt for a 58-41 lead at the third quarter media timeout. Morris was particularly active in the third quarter flying in for rebounds and moving all over the court. Her three-pointer provided a 20-point lead.
After the Wildcats (11-8, 5-3) scored six straight, Church hit a jumper and converted a three-point play. Another Church score and Morris' layup just before the buzzer gave the home team a 70-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Morris continued to sparkle, opening the final stanza with a three. She hit a jumper to give her a career-high 30 points and Campbell followed with a layup off a Morris feed. Held hit another jumper for an 81-65 advantage at the fourth quarter media timeout. Soon after, DePaul coach Doug Bruno brought in the reserves.
Held came out like she meant business right from the opening tip. The sophomore guard scored seven quick points and ignited an 8-2 run that put her team in front 13-5 at the first quarter media timeout.
She appeared more aggressive than usual, taking the opening tip and driving past two Villanova defenders for a layup. Held hit another three extending the run to 11-2 and giving her 10 points in just the first six minutes.
Playing with a noticeable intensity and energy, the Blue Demons went on a 10-0 run behind Morris, Stonewall and Held in opening up a 26-12 gap after one quarter. Held already had a dozen points by then while Morris added seven and Stonewall six.
After one of Church's patented drives to the hoop, Villanova went on an 8-2 burst in cutting its deficit to single digits (33-24) at the second quarter media timeout. It was the closest the Wildcats had been since the middle of the first quarter.
A Maya Stovall three-pointer and another Morris bucket restored a double-digit margin at 41-31. The Wildcats had closed to 41-34 when Stonewall scored to make it 43-34 at halftime.
The talented sophomore tandem of Morris and Held combined for 29 points in the first 20 minutes and Stonewall had eight points at the break. The DePaul senior's dedicated defensive effort against Maddy Siegrist limited the league's leading scorer to four points in the first half.
Bruno & Co. will shoot for 10 in a row Sunday against Georgetown at McGrath-Phillips Arena with a 2 p.m. tipoff.
Postgame Notes
- Morris set a career high with 30 points and tied career highs with 12 field goals and five steals. It was the first 30-point game by a Blue Demon this season.
- Held pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
- Before the game, Bruno's program and DePaul Athletics paid tribute to legendary Villanova coach Harry Perretta who is retiring after his 42nd season guiding the Wildcats.
- The Blue Demons have forced 20 or more turnovers in all but three games this season. St. John's has the lowest count with 10, Creighton had 16 and Villanova 17.
- DePaul went into the game ranked second in the nation in three-pointers, third in scoring and turnover margin, fourth in assists and steals and fifth in free throw percentage.
- In the latest NCAA RPI, DePaul is ranked No. 14.
- This was the 906th win in program history.
- Campbell is No. 4 in career assists with 581. Chanise Jenkins is No. 3 with 670. Campbell came into the game leading the nation in assist-turnover ratio.
- Campbell has passed WNBA Draft pick Felicia Chester, Beth Hasenmiller and Megan Podkowa for seventh in all-time rebounds with 868. JoAnn Feiereisel is No. 6 at 984.
- Stonewall has scored in double figures the last 14 games in a row and 19 of 20 on the season.
- Stonewall is No. 21 with in career scoring with 1,397 passing 2018-19 teammates Martè Grays (1,375) and Ashton Millender (1,392). Jasmine Penny (1,417) is No. 20, Latasha Byears (1,423) is No. 19 and Megan Podkowa (1,481) is No. 18.
Team Stats
VU
DePaul
FG%
.458
.417
3FG%
.368
.294
FT%
.615
.833
RB
38
42
TO
17
7
STL
5
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
12
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Guard
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