Stonewall, Held Lead No. 16/17 DePaul Past Creighton

Sunday, January 5

Omaha, Neb.

1:00 p.m. CT

DePaul University

13-2, 3-0BE

Creighton

11-4, 3-1BE

DePaul

Creighton

Stonewall, Held Lead No. 16/17 DePaul Past Creighton

1/5/2020 3:29:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Stonewall scores 26, Held 23 in 74-71 road victory on Sunday

OMAHA, Neb. – This was a showdown worth every bit of the early-season hype as two of the BIG EAST's leading contenders went head-to-head Sunday before a thoroughly entertained partisan crowd at Sokol Arena.

And when the smoke finally cleared from this matinee shootout, two free throws by Kelly Campbell and one by Chante Stonewall gave No. 16/17 DePaul a heat-pounding 74-71 victory over Creighton.

Stonewall had a game-high 26 points while also guarding Creighton's Jalyn Agnew who came into the game averaging 27 a game in BIG EAST play. Chante held her to 18 on Sunday. Lexi Held came through with 23 points including 5-of-10 from behind the arc.

This one was going down to the wire. The teams went back and forth throughout the second half. Creighton scored the first six points of the fourth quarter prompting coach Doug Bruno to call timeout with his team trailing 63-60 with 6 minutes, 58 seconds to go.

Nice call, coach. Right out of the timeout, Held hit a huge three-pointer and following a steal, Stonewall scored to make it 65-63 DePaul.

It was tied 65-65 when Held hit another clutch three. Leading 68-67, Church made a key block that led to another Held three-pointer and a 71-67 lead. Creighton would not give in and tied it at 71-71 with 35.6 seconds left.

After Stonewall's foul shot, Creighton (11-4, 3-1) had the last possession with 6.4 seconds left. Campbell and Sonya Morris swarmed Temi Carda and forced a game-saving turnover as Campbell got fouled in the process with 1.9 seconds left. Two free throws later and DePaul had improved to 13-2, 3-0.

Leading 40-36 at halftime, a Held basket and two Deja Church free throws increased the margin to 44-39. A 7-3 Bluejay burst brought the home team within 47-46 at the third quarter media timeout. The home team drew even at 47-47 when Held buried a corner three after a defensive breakdown with 4:29 left in the period.

Temi Carda got hot and shot Creighton into a 55-55 tie. Stonewall countered with a clutch three-pointer. Carda kept scoring but Sonya Morris' reverse layup gave DePaul a 60-57 lead after three quarters.

Creighton opened the game with a trio of threes and Held responded with a two and a three. The Bluejays led 16-10 when Kiara Dallmann scored inside and followed with a three-pointer. A Creighton basket matched by Stonewall and it was 18-17 Bluejays after one quarter.

Stonewall had seven points in the first 10 minutes while Held and Dallmann had five apiece. After Creighton hit its first three from deep, the home team went 1-for-9 the rest of the quarter.

Creighton led 24-21 when DePaul took off on an 8-1 run behind Stonewall, Kelly Campbell and Held. Campbell's driving layup left her team ahead 29-26 at the second quarter media timeout.

The Blue Demons maintained the advantage until a Bluejay bucket tied it 32-32. Stonewall was ready with a response, converting a three-point play and then cashing in on a pair of free throws the next possession.

Dee Bekelja's three-pointer had the visiting team heading to its halftime locker room with a 40-36 lead. Stonewall was the story of the first half scoring 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting and going 6-of-8 from the line. Held and Dallmann had seven points apiece. To DePaul's credit, the team led by four after making just three from deep.

The Blue Demons are back in action Friday against Seton Hall at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Postgame Notes

Including the 16 by Creighton, Bruno's team has forced 190 turnovers in the last eight games for an average of nearly 24 per game. Before Sunday, the lowest in that span had been 21 by Providence and No. 1-ranked Connecticut.
The Blue Demons had forced 20 or more turnovers in every game this season before Sunday. Northwestern had the previous lowest total of miscues with 20. Creighton came into Sunday's game ranked No. 2 nationally in fewest turnovers averaging 10.3 per game.
DePaul went into the game leading the nation in assists, ranked second in three-pointers and third in scoring.
In the latest NCAA RPI, DePaul is ranked No. 11.
This was the 901st win in program history.
Campbell needs 37 points to reach the 1,000-point career milestone.
Campbell is No. 4 in career assists with 555 passing Jessica January (554) on Sunday. January's backcourt mate Chanise Jenkins is No. 3 with 670.
Campbell has passed WNBA Draft pick Felicia Chester and Beth Hasenmiller for eighth in all-time rebounds with 822. Megan Podkowa is No. 7 at 835.
Stonewall is No. 23 with in career scoring with 1,324 passing Jenna Rubino (1,314) on Sunday. Stonewall's 2018-19 teammate Martè Grays is No. 22 with 1,375.