Let the Three-Peat Celebration Begin

Monday, March 9

Wintrust Arena

7:00 p.m. CT

DePaul University

28-5,15-3Big East

Marquette

24-8,13-5Big East

Marquette

DePaul

3/9/2020 10:59:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Held scores career-high 31 points in 88-74 BIG EAST Title Win Over Marquette

CHICAGO – The beauty of what Doug Bruno has lovingly and painstakingly created in Lincoln Park is a throwback kind of women's basketball program that swears by the game's fundamentals, shares the basketball as easily as it shares the glory and has a well-developed balance where on any given night, any of his Blue Demons can go off and have a career performance.

It was Lexi Held's turn in the spotlight Monday, playing the best game of her collegiate career in front of a boisterous Wintrust Arena partisan crowd, a large gathering of assembled media and a national television audience on FS1.

The splendid sophomore scored a career-high 31 points in leading DePaul to a resounding 88-74 victory over rival Marquette in the BIG EAST tournament championship game. The win clinched the program's 18th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.

It was a three-peat title for a happy and frolicking group of Blue Demons who ambushed Bruno with a confetti shower during his FS1 postgame interview.

Right in the middle of the celebration were the cornerstones of this year's team, senior co-captains Chante Stonewall and Kelly Campbell. In the biggest game of the season, they showed the underclassmen what it took to be the best and both were selected to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team.

Stonewall finished with 22 points and six rebounds while igniting a full-court press that forced 27 Marquette turnovers leading to 30 DePaul points and caused the Golden Eagles to play much faster than normal. Campbell was contributing all over the court and came close to another triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Deja Church came up big at key moments with her nine points and five rebounds while Sonya Morris contributed seven points, a career-high six steals and four assists as DePaul improved to 28-5.

But it was the soft-spoken, unassuming Held---the tournament's Most Outstanding Player---who really broke Marquette's spirit knocking down 10-of-14 shots including 5-of-6 from behind the arc.

"Lexi had no idea she had scored 31 points," Campbell said with a smile at the postgame news conference.

You knew it would be a memorable Monday night when for the first time in the long and storied history of the BIG EAST, the same two teams met in the tournament title game for the fourth year in a row.

Campbell opened the third quarter with another swish from deep, and Held's jumper increased a 13-point halftime lead to 50-33. Marquette coach Megan Duffy called timeout.

Church hit a pair of foul shots out of the break in play to complete a 7-0 mini-run. DePaul led 52-39 at the third quarter media timeout.

The intensity of the Blue Demon pressure was causing the visiting team to unravel. By that point, Marquette (24-8) already had 20 turnovers.

Held made sure her team maintained a safe distance from the Golden Eagles, scoring 12 points in the quarter including a pair of three-pointers. Her second connection from deep gave DePaul its first 20-point lead at 66-46. Four Stonewall points left DePaul with a 72-50 advantage going into the final 10 minutes.

Scoring early in the fourth quarter by Stonewall, Held and Church helped their team go into the media timeout with a 79-61 lead. Held hit yet another three to give her 31 points. The closest Marquette would come in the fourth quarter was 85-71 with 2:03 left.

Stonewall's two early baskets helped DePaul get off to a good start right after the opening tip. A Church driving layup gave the home team a 6-4 lead but Marquette responded with an 8-3 run to move in front 12-9 at the first quarter media timeout.

The Blue Demons made just four of their first 17 shots while the visitors were 6-of-11. In an exciting sequence leading to the end of the quarter, both teams exchanged several three-pointers. Stonewall connected from deep and Held calmly buried a pull-up jumper to bring DePaul within 18-17 after the first 10 minutes.

You could practically feel the intensity emanating from both teams. They were both laser focused and all-in.

"DePaulball" made its first appearance of the night midway through the second quarter as a partisan Wintrust Arena crowd came alive. DePaul went on a 14-2 run in seizing a 31-24 lead at the media timeout.

Stonewall and Campbell each hit a pair of shots in exerting their senior leadership. Morris had a long jumper along with a free throw and Held's two foul shots keyed the surge. Morris and Stonewall each made a terrific block of a Golden Eagle player driving for a score.

The pace was up and down the court, just the way Bruno had hoped. Marquette's players looked a little out of sync playing this style as the Blue Demons took off on an 11-2 burst behind a pair of Held threes and another one from Campbell who has been shooting the lights out in recent games. She was 4-of-5 from long range on Monday night and is 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) in her last four games.

Only a Selena Lott 35-foot buzzer-beater blunted a marvelous sequence for the home team as DePaul led 45-33 at halftime.

Bruno's team was 8-of-14 from behind the arc at the break and had forced 13 Golden Eagle turnovers while committing just two. Stonewall had 13 points, Held 12 and Campbell was on the triple-double radar with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Morris had seven points and six steals.

Bruno & Co. will now get a long break to recuperate from a demanding BIG EAST season and await Selection Monday on March 16 to learn of their NCAA tournament fate.

Postgame Notes

Held was honored as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring 64 points in three games while Stonewall and Campbell were named to the all-tournament team.
The Blue Demons set a tournament record with 43 three-pointers, breaking the record of 40 they set in 2018.
DePaul is the first tournament three-peat champion since Connecticut accomplished the feat in 2008-12.
Held's 31 points is a career high and the most in a BIG EAST tournament game since Allazia Blockton scored 31 for Marquette two years ago.
The roommate combination of Held and Campbell went 9-of-11 from three-point land.
Morris had a career-high six steals.
DePaul is 5-1 in BIG EAST title games.
After realignment, Bruno's program is tops among all men's and women's teams with a 109-20 record in conference play. The Villanova men's team is second.
DePaul has scored 90 or more points 10 times this season.
The Blue Demons have forced 20 or more turnovers in all but eight games this season and turned Marquette over 27 times on Monday.
Bruno's team was 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from behind the arc and has finished in double digits for three-pointers in 21 games this season.
DePaul went into the game ranked second in the nation in scoring, three-pointers and turnover margin, fourth in assists and steals, sixth in assist-turnover ratio, seventh in turnovers forced and eighth in free throw percentage. Campbell leads the nation in assist-turnover ratio and is sixth in assists. Stonewall is No. 14 in field goals and No. 18 in shot attempts.
In the latest NCAA RPI, DePaul is ranked No. 20.
The final NCAA women's basketball tournament committee reveal of top 16 seeds placed DePaul at No. 16. The top 16 seeds announced on the NCAA tournament selection show March 16 will host the NCAA First and Second Rounds.
Campbell is tied for No. 2 in career assists with Veronica Ross at 672, passing Chanise Jenkins (670). Campbell needs nine more assists to become DePaul's all-time leader as Brittany Hrynko finished her career with 680.
Campbell has passed WNBA Draft pick Felicia Chester, Beth Hasenmiller and Megan Podkowa for seventh in all-time rebounds with 979. JoAnn Feiereisel is No. 6 at 984.
Stonewall has scored in double figures the last 27 games in a row and 32 of 33 on the season.
Stonewall is No. 11 all-time with 1,622 points. No. 10 is JoAnn Feiereisel (1,630). Jenni Dant is No. 9 with 1,633. No. 8 is Sally Anderson with 1,722.