DePaul University Athletics
Friday, January 31
Wintrust Arena
7:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
vs
Creighton
No. 11/12 DePaul Shoots for 11th Win in a Row
1/30/2020 1:36:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue Demons tangle with dangerous Creighton Friday night at Wintrust Arena
CHICAGO – Getting his Blue Demons to play with an edge on Friday night---all coach Doug Bruno has to do is flashback to last season when Creighton pulled off an upset at McGrath-Phillips Arena.
The Blue Demons brought a five-game winning streak into their BIG EAST opener and could not have foreseen a guard named Brooke Kissinger having a career night.
In her first 11 games last season, Kissinger had scored a total of 19 points. But on this fateful Saturday night, the Bluejays senior guard knocked down 6-of-7 from three-point range and scored a game-high 20 points in leading her team to an 85-82 win.
No coaching staff in the world could game plan for something like that.
It's no wonder No. 11/12 DePaul will be at its vigilant best for the 7 p.m. tipoff at Wintrust Arena that will be televised by NBC Sports Chicago Plus.
Bruno & Co. already have a darn good idea what they're up against shooting for their 11th-straight win. On Jan. 5, DePaul traveled to Omaha, Neb. and pulled out a 74-71 win as Chante Stonewall scored 26 points and Lexi Held added 23. Held was 5-of-10 from deep on that Sunday afternoon.
It would be the closest game the Blue Demons would play in the first half of the conference season. Another close call was the 74-69 victory over a St. John's ball club that features a dangerous five-guard lineup.
Getting off to its finest start in BIG EAST play since joining the league in 2005-06, DePaul is 100-17 in conference action since realignment (2013-14), including this year's 9-0 mark. The 19-2 overall start is the best since the 2003-04 team was 22-4 and the 2010-11 team was 21-2.
The Blue Demons' BIG EAST winning percentage of .855 is tops among all men's and women's basketball programs since realignment with the Villanova men's team second at .835 (96-19). Both DePaul and coach Jay Wright's Wildcats have claimed five regular-season titles and four BIG EAST Tournament titles.
The "DePaulball" attack is led by Stonewall averaging 17.2 points a game, and the dynamic 6-foot, 1-inch senior forward is 12th in the nation in field goals. She is No. 18 in steals anchoring a vaunted full-court press that is No. 3 in the USA in turnover margin and No. 8 in forced turnovers.
A sophomore tandem of Sonya Morris and Lexi Held that is growing in confidence with each passing game combines to average 31.6 points a game. Held is the BIG EAST Player of the Week. Emerging junior Deja Church is contributing nearly 11 points a game.
Orchestrating the fast-paced offense that is second in the country in scoring and third in assists is do-everything point guard Kelly Campbell. The steady 5-10 senior leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio and leads her team in rebounds and assists while also pitching in eight points a game.
A solid reserve corps is taking shape led by junior Dee Bekelja (8.5 points a game). Also among the reliable reinforcements are sophomores Maya Stovall and Jolene Daninger, 6-1 freshman Nadège Jean and 6-2 junior Kiara Dallmann.
Creighton (13-7, 5-4) opened the BIG EAST season at 4-1 but has lost three of its last four. The Bluejays were missing their best player Jalyn Agnew (19.8 points a game) for the last three games as she recovers from a concussion. Temi Carda (13 points a game) and Tatum Rembao (11.5) have picked up the slack in Agnew's absence.
The Blue Demons brought a five-game winning streak into their BIG EAST opener and could not have foreseen a guard named Brooke Kissinger having a career night.
In her first 11 games last season, Kissinger had scored a total of 19 points. But on this fateful Saturday night, the Bluejays senior guard knocked down 6-of-7 from three-point range and scored a game-high 20 points in leading her team to an 85-82 win.
No coaching staff in the world could game plan for something like that.
It's no wonder No. 11/12 DePaul will be at its vigilant best for the 7 p.m. tipoff at Wintrust Arena that will be televised by NBC Sports Chicago Plus.
Bruno & Co. already have a darn good idea what they're up against shooting for their 11th-straight win. On Jan. 5, DePaul traveled to Omaha, Neb. and pulled out a 74-71 win as Chante Stonewall scored 26 points and Lexi Held added 23. Held was 5-of-10 from deep on that Sunday afternoon.
It would be the closest game the Blue Demons would play in the first half of the conference season. Another close call was the 74-69 victory over a St. John's ball club that features a dangerous five-guard lineup.
Getting off to its finest start in BIG EAST play since joining the league in 2005-06, DePaul is 100-17 in conference action since realignment (2013-14), including this year's 9-0 mark. The 19-2 overall start is the best since the 2003-04 team was 22-4 and the 2010-11 team was 21-2.
The Blue Demons' BIG EAST winning percentage of .855 is tops among all men's and women's basketball programs since realignment with the Villanova men's team second at .835 (96-19). Both DePaul and coach Jay Wright's Wildcats have claimed five regular-season titles and four BIG EAST Tournament titles.
The "DePaulball" attack is led by Stonewall averaging 17.2 points a game, and the dynamic 6-foot, 1-inch senior forward is 12th in the nation in field goals. She is No. 18 in steals anchoring a vaunted full-court press that is No. 3 in the USA in turnover margin and No. 8 in forced turnovers.
A sophomore tandem of Sonya Morris and Lexi Held that is growing in confidence with each passing game combines to average 31.6 points a game. Held is the BIG EAST Player of the Week. Emerging junior Deja Church is contributing nearly 11 points a game.
Orchestrating the fast-paced offense that is second in the country in scoring and third in assists is do-everything point guard Kelly Campbell. The steady 5-10 senior leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio and leads her team in rebounds and assists while also pitching in eight points a game.
A solid reserve corps is taking shape led by junior Dee Bekelja (8.5 points a game). Also among the reliable reinforcements are sophomores Maya Stovall and Jolene Daninger, 6-1 freshman Nadège Jean and 6-2 junior Kiara Dallmann.
Creighton (13-7, 5-4) opened the BIG EAST season at 4-1 but has lost three of its last four. The Bluejays were missing their best player Jalyn Agnew (19.8 points a game) for the last three games as she recovers from a concussion. Temi Carda (13 points a game) and Tatum Rembao (11.5) have picked up the slack in Agnew's absence.
Players Mentioned
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Forward
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Forward
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Guard
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