Wednesday, January 13
Wintrust Arena
5:30 P.M. CT
DePaul University
7-3,4-1Big East
101
vs
84
St. John's
4-6,1-4Big East
1
2
3
4
F
St. John's (NY)
14
17
29
24
84
DePaul
26
25
31
19
101
No. 19/22 DePaul Races Past St. John's 101-84
1/13/2021 8:28:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Dee Bekelja's 22 points paces five in double figures Wednesday night
CHICAGO – It sure seems like whenever No. 19/22 DePaul and BIG EAST rival St. John's step on the same court, it's a race to the finish.
That was pretty much the case once again Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena as DePaul sped past the Red Storm 101-84 before a national TV audience on FS1. The 101 points is the second-highest total this season to the 128 the Blue Demons scored against Chicago State.
Dee Bekelja was the leader of the pack with 22 points as five DePaul players scored in double figures. Lexi Held finished with 21 points and seven assists while Deja Church added 18 points and nine rebounds.
Sonya Morris contributed 17 points and a game-high nine assists. Jorie Allen recorded career highs in points with 17 and rebounds with seven.
DePaul (7-3, 4-1 BIG EAST) jumped out to an 11-2 lead out of the opening tip with Allen scoring twice on sharp assists from her teammates. At one point in that surge, the Blue Demons forced three turnovers in just over a minute.
After a pair of Held free throws followed by a Church score, St. John's coach Joe Tartamella called timeout with his team trailing 15-6.
Qadashah Hoppie hit back-to-back threes to bring the Red Storm (4-6, 1-4) within 17-12. That's when coach Doug Bruno's team closed out the first quarter with a 9-2 run in building a 26-14 lead.
Back-to-back threes by Bekelja and Church followed by another Allen score down low increased the home team's advantage to 38-22, prompting Tartamella to call another timeout.
That initial burst turned into a 14-2 run and a 47-24 lead. It was 51-31 at halftime with Church off to her best start of the season with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals in the first 20 minutes. Held had a dozen at the break and Allen 10 points and five rebounds.
There was no letup at the outset of the third quarter as Bekelja scored a quick seven points in staking her team to a 65-39 lead. It was a 9-3 Red Storm surge coming out of a media timeout when Held responded with a three-pointer. The junior guard knocked down seven of her first nine shots.
Morris connected from behind the arc and Held dropped in another jumper for a 76-53 advantage with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Allen's scoring helped lead the Blue Demons to an 82-60 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After another Bekelja basket made it 87-65 early in the fourth quarter, St. John's ran off six-straight. Bruno called timeout to make sure his players weren't losing focus. Allen scored out of the reset on a nice feed from Held.
DePaul will be back on the road for its next game, a BIG EAST matchup Saturday at Georgetown in Our Nation's Capital---just four days before the inauguration of 46th president Joe Biden.
Postgame Notes
That was pretty much the case once again Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena as DePaul sped past the Red Storm 101-84 before a national TV audience on FS1. The 101 points is the second-highest total this season to the 128 the Blue Demons scored against Chicago State.
Dee Bekelja was the leader of the pack with 22 points as five DePaul players scored in double figures. Lexi Held finished with 21 points and seven assists while Deja Church added 18 points and nine rebounds.
Sonya Morris contributed 17 points and a game-high nine assists. Jorie Allen recorded career highs in points with 17 and rebounds with seven.
DePaul (7-3, 4-1 BIG EAST) jumped out to an 11-2 lead out of the opening tip with Allen scoring twice on sharp assists from her teammates. At one point in that surge, the Blue Demons forced three turnovers in just over a minute.
After a pair of Held free throws followed by a Church score, St. John's coach Joe Tartamella called timeout with his team trailing 15-6.
Qadashah Hoppie hit back-to-back threes to bring the Red Storm (4-6, 1-4) within 17-12. That's when coach Doug Bruno's team closed out the first quarter with a 9-2 run in building a 26-14 lead.
Back-to-back threes by Bekelja and Church followed by another Allen score down low increased the home team's advantage to 38-22, prompting Tartamella to call another timeout.
That initial burst turned into a 14-2 run and a 47-24 lead. It was 51-31 at halftime with Church off to her best start of the season with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals in the first 20 minutes. Held had a dozen at the break and Allen 10 points and five rebounds.
There was no letup at the outset of the third quarter as Bekelja scored a quick seven points in staking her team to a 65-39 lead. It was a 9-3 Red Storm surge coming out of a media timeout when Held responded with a three-pointer. The junior guard knocked down seven of her first nine shots.
Morris connected from behind the arc and Held dropped in another jumper for a 76-53 advantage with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Allen's scoring helped lead the Blue Demons to an 82-60 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
After another Bekelja basket made it 87-65 early in the fourth quarter, St. John's ran off six-straight. Bruno called timeout to make sure his players weren't losing focus. Allen scored out of the reset on a nice feed from Held.
DePaul will be back on the road for its next game, a BIG EAST matchup Saturday at Georgetown in Our Nation's Capital---just four days before the inauguration of 46th president Joe Biden.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul leads the all-time series against St. John's 22-5 and have won 10 in a row.
- In regular-season games against the Red Storm, the Blue Demons have won 14-straight.
- Six of the last eight matchups against St. John's have been decided by single digits.
- DePaul's defense held St. John's leading scorer Leilani Correa scoreless in the first half and she finished with four points. Qadashah Hoppie scored a game-high 28.
- This is the fifth game the Blue Demons have scored 90 or more points in a game this season. The 101 points is the second most in a game behind only the 128 versus Chicago State.
- The Blue Demons outrebounded St. John's 42-33 including 20-8 on the offensive boards.
- Adding badly needed height to the lineup, the 6-foot, 2-inch Kiara Dallmann played in her second game on Wednesday after missing the first eight with an ankle injury.
- Indiana transfer Jorie Allen had her best game in a DePaul uniform after the NCAA granted immediate eligibility to all transfer players. Her father Jeff Allen played for the Blue Demon men's team (1981-83) under legendary coach Ray Meyer. Her sister Jenna played at Michigan State.
- DePaul checked in at No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 and is No. 22 in the USA Today/Coaches poll.
- Bruno's full-court pressure tactics and his players' ball-hawking aggression have forced 20 or more turnovers in every game except three 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 Dec. 19 were a season high. It's no wonder the Blue Demons are No. 9 in the nation in forcing turnovers. They forced St. John's into 22 on Wednesday.
- Deja Church needs 20 points to reach the 1,000 mark in her career. That includes two seasons at Michigan. Lexi Held is 86 away from accomplishing the feat in just three seasons while classmate Sonya Morris is 142 shy.
Team Stats
SJU
DePaul
FG%
.541
.482
3FG%
.500
.360
FT%
.769
.750
RB
33
42
TO
22
12
STL
5
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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