Monday, January 4
Wintrust Arena
2:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
6-3,3-1Big East
94
vs
82
Villanova
7-2,2-2Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Villanova
19
24
21
18
82
DePaul
20
34
24
16
94
No. 20/21 DePaul Races Past Villanova 94-82 on Monday
1/4/2021 4:46:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sonya Morris paces five Blue Demons in double figures with 22 points
CHICAGO – With postponements and rescheduling shaking up the college basketball world, No. 20/21 DePaul was excited to begin 2021 with its ninth game in a totally unpredictable season.
Five Blue Demons in double figures paved the way for a 94-82 victory Monday at Wintrust Arena as DePaul improved to 6-3 on the season and 3-1 in the BIG EAST.
Sonya Morris paced DePaul with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists while emerging freshman Darrione Rogers finished with 21 points including 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Lexi Held checked in with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Backcourt mate Deja Church contributed 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds and Dee Bekelja contributed 12 points and seven boards. Jorie Allen was a basket shy of double figures with eight points and seven rebounds.
As a trio, Rogers, Held and Morris combined to go 12-of-22 from behind the arc (54.5 percent). Maddy Siegrist led Villanova (7-2, 2-2) with 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Right after the halftime break, Held and Morris buried back-to-back threes. Church's basket extended a 54-43 halftime advantage to 65-49.
Behind Siegrist, the BIG EAST's leading scorer and rebounder, Villanova scored seven straight for a 65-56 deficit at the third quarter media timeout.
A pair of Morris free throws followed by back-to-back three-point plays courtesy of Morris and Allen made it 74-61 with 3:02 left in the quarter. At this point, DePaul was 11-of-23 from deep (47.8 percent). The Blue Demons would finish 13 of 30.
Another strong finish by Bekelja and Allen's put-back put coach Doug Bruno's team ahead 78-64 heading into the fourth quarter.
Villanova opened the final period outscoring DePaul 10-2 to come within 80-74 at the media timeout. Morris was on the bench with four fouls, unable to help stave off the late comeback attempt.
Taking a gamble, Bruno brought back Morris who immediately responded with a jumper. On the next possession, the team's leading scorer was whistled for her fifth foul.
Bekelja and Allen picked up the slack in Morris' absence, restoring an 86-74 lead with 5:28 left. Rogers and Held connected from deep down the stretch to put this one away.
An early 6-0 burst staked DePaul to a 14-10 lead behind the early offense from Bekelja, Rogers and Held. The home team was up 16-13 at the first quarter media timeout as both teams started at a fast pace with the Blue Demons converting on seven of their first 11 shots.
The lead was extended to 20-15 after back-to-back baskets by Bekelja and Church, but Villanova closed out the quarter with four in a row to come within one.
The visiting Wildcats went in front 31-30 after six unanswered points only to watch the Blue Demons respond with a 7-0 run. Church's basket and a Morris three followed immediately by a Held steal-and-score gave DePaul a 38-31 advantage at the second quarter media timeout.
After the timeout, Rogers really heated up. The irrepressible freshman who earlier in the day was selected to the BIG EAST Honor Roll proceeded to knock down a quartet of three-pointers.
Her long-distance sharpshooting paved the way for a 54-43 halftime lead as the Blue Demons connected on eight of their first 18 attempts from behind the arc (44.4 percent). Rogers led four Blue Demons in double figures with 14 points.
Morris had 12 points and four assists by intermission while Held had 10 points and three assists. Church scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes and Bekelja was on the verge of joining the double-figure club with eight points.
The Blue Demon pressure defense had forced 13 Villanova turnovers by halftime.
DePaul will be back on the road for its next game, a BIG EAST matchup Thursday at Butler.
Postgame Notes
Five Blue Demons in double figures paved the way for a 94-82 victory Monday at Wintrust Arena as DePaul improved to 6-3 on the season and 3-1 in the BIG EAST.
Sonya Morris paced DePaul with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists while emerging freshman Darrione Rogers finished with 21 points including 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Lexi Held checked in with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Backcourt mate Deja Church contributed 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds and Dee Bekelja contributed 12 points and seven boards. Jorie Allen was a basket shy of double figures with eight points and seven rebounds.
As a trio, Rogers, Held and Morris combined to go 12-of-22 from behind the arc (54.5 percent). Maddy Siegrist led Villanova (7-2, 2-2) with 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Right after the halftime break, Held and Morris buried back-to-back threes. Church's basket extended a 54-43 halftime advantage to 65-49.
Behind Siegrist, the BIG EAST's leading scorer and rebounder, Villanova scored seven straight for a 65-56 deficit at the third quarter media timeout.
A pair of Morris free throws followed by back-to-back three-point plays courtesy of Morris and Allen made it 74-61 with 3:02 left in the quarter. At this point, DePaul was 11-of-23 from deep (47.8 percent). The Blue Demons would finish 13 of 30.
Another strong finish by Bekelja and Allen's put-back put coach Doug Bruno's team ahead 78-64 heading into the fourth quarter.
Villanova opened the final period outscoring DePaul 10-2 to come within 80-74 at the media timeout. Morris was on the bench with four fouls, unable to help stave off the late comeback attempt.
Taking a gamble, Bruno brought back Morris who immediately responded with a jumper. On the next possession, the team's leading scorer was whistled for her fifth foul.
Bekelja and Allen picked up the slack in Morris' absence, restoring an 86-74 lead with 5:28 left. Rogers and Held connected from deep down the stretch to put this one away.
An early 6-0 burst staked DePaul to a 14-10 lead behind the early offense from Bekelja, Rogers and Held. The home team was up 16-13 at the first quarter media timeout as both teams started at a fast pace with the Blue Demons converting on seven of their first 11 shots.
The lead was extended to 20-15 after back-to-back baskets by Bekelja and Church, but Villanova closed out the quarter with four in a row to come within one.
The visiting Wildcats went in front 31-30 after six unanswered points only to watch the Blue Demons respond with a 7-0 run. Church's basket and a Morris three followed immediately by a Held steal-and-score gave DePaul a 38-31 advantage at the second quarter media timeout.
After the timeout, Rogers really heated up. The irrepressible freshman who earlier in the day was selected to the BIG EAST Honor Roll proceeded to knock down a quartet of three-pointers.
Her long-distance sharpshooting paved the way for a 54-43 halftime lead as the Blue Demons connected on eight of their first 18 attempts from behind the arc (44.4 percent). Rogers led four Blue Demons in double figures with 14 points.
Morris had 12 points and four assists by intermission while Held had 10 points and three assists. Church scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes and Bekelja was on the verge of joining the double-figure club with eight points.
The Blue Demon pressure defense had forced 13 Villanova turnovers by halftime.
DePaul will be back on the road for its next game, a BIG EAST matchup Thursday at Butler.
Postgame Notes
- Behind Church's nine, seven by Bekelja, six apiece from Held and Allen plus Morris' five, DePaul outrebounded the taller Wildcats 40-35. Bruno & Co. ha 14 offensive rebounds to seven for Villanova.
- Rogers scored 20 or more for the second-straight game, coming off a 20-point, 10-rebound performance last week at Connecticut.
- The trio of Rogers, Held and Morris combined to shoot 12-of-22 from deep (54.5 percent).
- This is the fourth game the Blue Demons have scored 90 or more points in a game this season. The 94 points is the second most in a game this season behind only the 128 versus Chicago State.
- Adding badly needed height to the lineup, the 6-foot, 2-inch Kiara Dallmann played in her first game Monday after missing the first eight with an ankle injury.
- Indiana transfer Jorie Allen played her third game in a DePaul uniform after the NCAA recently 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. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 and is No. 21 in the USA Today/Coaches poll. So, the Blue Demons start 2021 ranked No. 20/21.
- Bruno's full-court pressure tactics and his players' ball-hawking aggression have forced 23 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. 4 in the nation in forcing turnovers. They forced Villanova into 19 on Monday.
- As a result of schedule adjustments, cancellations and postponements in this season of basketball in a pandemic, four of DePaul's first nine games were against teams ranked at one point in the top 10 of the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls (No. 2/2 Louisville, No. 4/5 UConn, 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 eight games.
- Deja Church needs 38 points to reach the 1,000 mark in her career. That includes two seasons at Michigan. Lexi Held is 107 away from accomplishing the feat in just three seasons while classmate Sonya Morris is 159 shy.
Team Stats
VU
DePaul
FG%
.516
.447
3FG%
.400
.433
FT%
.706
.929
RB
35
40
TO
19
12
STL
7
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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