Bekelja Leads No. 24/23 DePaul Past Georgetown 72-54 in BIG EAST Opener

CHICAGO – Not only did coach Doug Bruno and his staff have to strategize against a totally revamped Georgetown team on Saturday---they also had to factor human nature into their winning equation.

It would be understandable if No. 24/23 DePaul encountered a letdown after its inspiring victory over No. 9/9 Kentucky 72 hours ago.

Instead, the Blue Demons followed up their signature moment with a 72-54 triumph at Wintrust Arena in their BIG EAST Conference opener. This was Georgetown's first game of the season after dealing with COVID-19 issues.
Dee Bekelja was all over the court for DePaul (4-2, 1-0), finishing with a game-high 19 points and tying career highs with 12 rebounds and four steals. It was the second double-double of her career. Lexi Held contributed 16 points and was 7-for-7 at the free throw line.

Deja Church had 10 points and set a career high with five steals while Sonya Morris also scored 10 points. The Blue Demons set a season high by forcing Georgetown into 32 turnovers.

Coming out of the halftime break, Bruno & Co. looked to expand their eight-point margin. It wasn't quite what they had in mind as the Hoyas scored the first five points of the third quarter.

It was 39-36 when Held and Bekelja combined for five unanswered points, triggering a Georgetown timeout. That evolved into a 14-2 Blue Demon burst highlighted by Deja Church's back-to-back threes. That put her team in front 53-38 with four minutes to go in the quarter.

Morris closed out the third quarter with back-to-back jumpers in building the advantage to 57-40. Georgetown came within 58-45 early in the fourth quarter when DePaul scored eight in a row, effectively putting this one away with a 64-45 lead at the media timeout.

Held came to play on Saturday, scoring seven of her team's first nine points on a jumper and five free throws. A Bekelja three-pointer established an early 12-5 advantage only to see the Georgetown rally with seven in a row to tie it 12-12 at the first quarter media timeout.

Georgetown moved in front 13-12 when Held and Bekelja ignited a 9-3 run and a 21-16 lead. It was 21-18 after one quarter as Held had nine points in the first 10 minutes and Bekelja added six. DePaul forced eight GU turnovers.

After the visitors from Washington, D.C. scored the first five points of the second quarter, an upset coach Doug Bruno called timeout. Not long after Bruno's soliloquy, his team took off on a 10-0 burst.

First, it was Dee for three followed by Held's layup off a nifty feed from Kendall Holmes. Held came right back with another three and Morris scored on a fast-break layup.

A Jolene Daninger score down low and a Bekelja three-point play extended the surge to 15-1 and a 36-24 lead. It was 39-31 at halftime with Held leading all scorers at that point with 14. Bekelja had an even dozen points at the break along with eight rebounds---four shy of her career high.

DePaul's first BIG EAST road test comes against Creighton at 8 p.m. Tuesday that will be televised nationally on FS1.

Postgame Notes

Bruno's full-court pressure tactics and his players' ball-hawking aggression have forced 23 or more turnovers in every game this season including 27 against No. 10/10 Texas A&M and 23 against both No. 2/2 Louisville and No. 9/9 Kentucky. Georgetown's 32 miscues on Saturday was a season high forced by DePaul. It's no wonder the Blue Demons are fourth in the country at forcing turnovers.
In the first six games this season, the Blue Demons are forcing opponents into an average of 26 turnovers a game.
Bekelja tied career highs with 12 rebounds and four steals. The 5-foot, 9-inch guard leads the team in rebounding.
Bekelja recorded the second double-double of her career.
Church set a career high with five steals.
As a result of schedule adjustments, cancellations and postponements in this season of basketball in a pandemic, three of DePaul's first five games were against teams ranked in the top 10 of the current Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls (No. 2/2 Louisville, No. 9/9 Kentucky, No. 10/10 Texas A&M). It's doubtful any other team in the country has faced such elite competition in its first handful of games.
Deja Church needs 72 points to reach the 1,000 mark in her career. That includes two seasons at Michigan. Lexi Held is 144 away from accomplishing the feat in just three seasons while classmate Sonya Morris is 211 shy.
The Blue Demons are now 24-5 at Wintrust Arena.

Bekelja Leads No. 24/23 DePaul Past Georgetown 72-54 in BIG EAST Opener

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Team Stats

Dee Bekelja

Lexi Held

Deja Church

Sonya Morris

Players Mentioned

Dee Bekelja

Deja Church

Jolene Daninger

Lexi Held

Kendall Holmes

Sonya Morris

Players Mentioned

Dee Bekelja

Deja Church

Jolene Daninger

Lexi Held

Kendall Holmes

Sonya Morris