Sunday, December 19
Queens, NY
12:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
at
St. John's
Nation's Top Offense Arrives in Gotham City
12/18/2021 3:30:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
No. 1 in scoring and assists, DePaul tips at noon Sunday against St. John's
QUEENS, N.Y. – The number 100 has taken on a prominent status in our world.
When young White Sox pitchers Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet were trying to break into the big leagues, being able to deliver triple-digit heat stoked the imagination of fellow players, the media and South Side fans.
Americans celebrate their 100th birthday with a letter from the President congratulating them on their life as a centenarian.
And throughout history, basketball teams and organizations have celebrated a 100-point game with popular giveaways that would fire up boisterous partisans screaming for a freebie.
If DePaul had such a promotion, coach Doug Bruno and his women's basketball team would have the marketing department submitting a reorder for more inventory.
Four times in the last five games, these Blue Demons have lit up the scoreboard with triple digits. The trend began with 101 against Butler and 103 versus Xavier on the first weekend in December.
After scoring just 94 points against a Kentucky team that was ranked No. 14 in the country, DePaul put up 100 against Nicholls State last Tuesday and 103 vs. Northern Illinois two days later.
In the last five games, this explosive unit has averaged 100.2 points a game.
Those are NBA numbers.
As a result, the Blue Demons lead the nation in scoring as they prepare for a Sunday showdown at BIG EAST rival St. John's.
Bruno has his team in a good place right now. He repeats his mantra over and over that the prime directive is to lead the nation in assists. Doing so can clear the way for a nice postseason run.
Going into the weekend, DePaul (10-2) leads the nation in assists and assists per game.
Sharing the ball manifests itself in Morris dishing out a career-high 10 assists against NIU when her usually reliable jumper went AWOL.
It is manifested in Held embracing a new role as point guard. Her court vision and creativity in delivering pretty no-look passes along with her natural poise is facilitating an explosive attack.
Then there's the fascinating team dynamic involving Dee Bekelja who was a starter last season. The emergence of Morrow and confident sophomore Darrione Rogers shifted the multi-talented graduate student into a different role coming off the bench.
She has come to embody the unselfish nature of this team by taking on this new assignment and running with it.
Bekelja scored 16 points against Nicholls State on 8-of-11 shooting and followed up with 15 points and nine rebounds against NIU going 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Another top national ranking provides additional insight into all the early hoopla. The Blue Demons are No. 1 in the country in offensive rebounds per game, and an unassuming 6-foot, 1-inch freshman named Aneesah Morrow leads the nation in rebounds.
The formula for her breakout start is simple. While talented, high-level achievers like the All-BIG EAST tandem of Morris (15.6 points a game) and Held (13.2 points, nearly six assists) can take over a game with their marksmanship, Morrow follows a different path.
While versatile triple-threat Deja Church (14.5 points a game) and three-point shooting leader Rogers (11 points a game and 45.5 percent shooting from deep) are doing their thing, Morrow focuses on a more rugged part of the game.
She simply cleans up after her teammates. Crashing the offensive glass with abandon, this uncommonly quick leaper with an impressive hops scores most of her points on power put-backs.
Her teammates are always looking to set her up in the low blocks. When that isn't available, there are a variety of other scoring options.
The respectful Morrow is right at home deferring to graduate students like Church and Bekelja and seniors Morris and Held. She was raised that way by her mom, Nafeesah, who was a 6-2 two-time all-conference basketball star at Nebraska and her dad, Edward, who played linebacker on Nebraska's 1994 national champion.
And even if there had been the slightest residue of cockiness left over from her parents' upbringing, 6-7 older brother Ed Morrow who played hoops at Nebraska and Marquette took care of that.
When asked recently if her older brother ever took it easy on his kid sister in games of one-on-one, the grimace and glare in Aneesah's face said it all.
It's no wonder "Neesie" as she's called by teammates and coaches has transitioned so well to the more physical game at the Division I level. Opponents have tried rough-housing techniques to no avail, and Morrow hit the deck three times against NIU.
She responds by ramping up her determination and administering her own form of payback by dominating the backboards and letting the scoreboard do her talking.
St. John's (5-5) plays a style of "DePaulball" all their own. Like the Blue Demons, all five starters average in double figures led by the BIG EAST's second-leading scorer Leilani Correa (19.2 points a game).
Right behind her is 6-3 Rayven Peeples at 15 points and a team-leading nine rebounds a game. Kadaja Bailey is contributing an average of 13.7 points.
The 6-2 Danielle Patterson is scoring 10.4 points a game and 6-4 Danielle Cosgrove adds 10 points. The Red Storm is second in the BIG EAST averaging 74.5 points a game---trailing only DePaul's 90.9.
There figures to be a lot of fireworks at the noon tipoff Sunday inside Carnesecca Arena in Queens.
When young White Sox pitchers Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet were trying to break into the big leagues, being able to deliver triple-digit heat stoked the imagination of fellow players, the media and South Side fans.
Americans celebrate their 100th birthday with a letter from the President congratulating them on their life as a centenarian.
And throughout history, basketball teams and organizations have celebrated a 100-point game with popular giveaways that would fire up boisterous partisans screaming for a freebie.
If DePaul had such a promotion, coach Doug Bruno and his women's basketball team would have the marketing department submitting a reorder for more inventory.
Four times in the last five games, these Blue Demons have lit up the scoreboard with triple digits. The trend began with 101 against Butler and 103 versus Xavier on the first weekend in December.
After scoring just 94 points against a Kentucky team that was ranked No. 14 in the country, DePaul put up 100 against Nicholls State last Tuesday and 103 vs. Northern Illinois two days later.
In the last five games, this explosive unit has averaged 100.2 points a game.
Those are NBA numbers.
As a result, the Blue Demons lead the nation in scoring as they prepare for a Sunday showdown at BIG EAST rival St. John's.
Bruno has his team in a good place right now. He repeats his mantra over and over that the prime directive is to lead the nation in assists. Doing so can clear the way for a nice postseason run.
Going into the weekend, DePaul (10-2) leads the nation in assists and assists per game.
Sharing the ball manifests itself in Morris dishing out a career-high 10 assists against NIU when her usually reliable jumper went AWOL.
It is manifested in Held embracing a new role as point guard. Her court vision and creativity in delivering pretty no-look passes along with her natural poise is facilitating an explosive attack.
Then there's the fascinating team dynamic involving Dee Bekelja who was a starter last season. The emergence of Morrow and confident sophomore Darrione Rogers shifted the multi-talented graduate student into a different role coming off the bench.
She has come to embody the unselfish nature of this team by taking on this new assignment and running with it.
Bekelja scored 16 points against Nicholls State on 8-of-11 shooting and followed up with 15 points and nine rebounds against NIU going 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Another top national ranking provides additional insight into all the early hoopla. The Blue Demons are No. 1 in the country in offensive rebounds per game, and an unassuming 6-foot, 1-inch freshman named Aneesah Morrow leads the nation in rebounds.
The formula for her breakout start is simple. While talented, high-level achievers like the All-BIG EAST tandem of Morris (15.6 points a game) and Held (13.2 points, nearly six assists) can take over a game with their marksmanship, Morrow follows a different path.
While versatile triple-threat Deja Church (14.5 points a game) and three-point shooting leader Rogers (11 points a game and 45.5 percent shooting from deep) are doing their thing, Morrow focuses on a more rugged part of the game.
She simply cleans up after her teammates. Crashing the offensive glass with abandon, this uncommonly quick leaper with an impressive hops scores most of her points on power put-backs.
Her teammates are always looking to set her up in the low blocks. When that isn't available, there are a variety of other scoring options.
The respectful Morrow is right at home deferring to graduate students like Church and Bekelja and seniors Morris and Held. She was raised that way by her mom, Nafeesah, who was a 6-2 two-time all-conference basketball star at Nebraska and her dad, Edward, who played linebacker on Nebraska's 1994 national champion.
And even if there had been the slightest residue of cockiness left over from her parents' upbringing, 6-7 older brother Ed Morrow who played hoops at Nebraska and Marquette took care of that.
When asked recently if her older brother ever took it easy on his kid sister in games of one-on-one, the grimace and glare in Aneesah's face said it all.
It's no wonder "Neesie" as she's called by teammates and coaches has transitioned so well to the more physical game at the Division I level. Opponents have tried rough-housing techniques to no avail, and Morrow hit the deck three times against NIU.
She responds by ramping up her determination and administering her own form of payback by dominating the backboards and letting the scoreboard do her talking.
St. John's (5-5) plays a style of "DePaulball" all their own. Like the Blue Demons, all five starters average in double figures led by the BIG EAST's second-leading scorer Leilani Correa (19.2 points a game).
Right behind her is 6-3 Rayven Peeples at 15 points and a team-leading nine rebounds a game. Kadaja Bailey is contributing an average of 13.7 points.
The 6-2 Danielle Patterson is scoring 10.4 points a game and 6-4 Danielle Cosgrove adds 10 points. The Red Storm is second in the BIG EAST averaging 74.5 points a game---trailing only DePaul's 90.9.
There figures to be a lot of fireworks at the noon tipoff Sunday inside Carnesecca Arena in Queens.
Players Mentioned
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