Wednesday, December 22
Chicago, Ill.
7:30 P.M. CT
DePaul University
11-3,3-0Big East
86
vs
91
Notre Dame
11-2,2-0ACC
1
2
3
4
F
Notre Dame
20
24
28
19
91
DePaul
22
11
26
27
86
DePaul's Rally Falls Short in 91-86 Loss to No. 20/17 Notre Dame
12/22/2021 10:45:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Five starters score in double figures and shoot 50 percent or better Wednesday night
CHICAGO – A nationwide audience on FS1 saw with their own eyes the heart and character of this DePaul basketball team.
Despite a season-low 10 assists and shooting just 25 percent from three-point range, the Blue Demons came whisker-close to taking down one of the top teams in the nation in a 91-86 loss to No. 20/17 Notre Dame Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena.
The setback snapped the Blue Demons' seven-game winning streak.
Each time coach Doug Bruno's team would get down by 11, by 13---his players would come roaring back. Twice the ferocity of the rallies forced Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey to call timeout.
The never-give-in feistiness ran true through the entire starting five who for the second time this season all finished in double-figures and all shot 50 percent or better.
Freshman Aneesah Morrow led the way with her sixth consecutive double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) and her eighth in the last nine games.
Senior Lexi Held bowed her neck in the fourth quarter and hit some tough shots in the lane while also converting a four-point play to finish with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Her equally talented classmate Sonya Morris added 15 points while Darrione Rogers scored 14 and Deja Church 13.
Overcoming a 13-point deficit in the final 10 minutes against a talented nationally ranked team was a tall order indeed.
To this point, the Blue Demons (11-3) had been victimized by Notre Dame's superior height and strong inside game.
The 6-3 tandem of Maya Dodson and Maddy Westbeld combined for 50 points. Dodson transferred to South Bend after playing for national champion Stanford last season.
No matter, there's simply no quit in coach Bruno's team. Held, Morris, Rogers, Kierra Collier and Morrow collaborated on an inspiring 11-2 run and coming within 74-70 as the Irish called timeout with 7:30 left in the game.
A Collier layup made it a two-point game. The Irish answered, but so did Held. Church converted a three-point play with 5:16 left and DePaul trailed just 78-77.
Tough shots by Morris and Held kept it close with Lexi's coming at the 2:28 mark. The Irish answered with back-to-back baskets for an 86-81 lead with 1:45 to go. Morrow had fouled out at the 3:00 mark.
DePaul's press produced a 10-second violation against Notre Dame and Held---who is among the best in the game at this ploy---drew a charging call. Held then cashed in with a clutch three-pointer and it was 86-84 with 43.1 seconds on the clock.
The Irish's Maya Dodson hit two free throws only to watch Church score on a drive in the lane. Maddy Westbeld closed it out for Notre Dame (11-2) with three foul shots.
Down by 11 at halftime, DePaul needed a third-quarter surge. Better ball movement would help as the home team had just three assists in the first 20 minutes.
It started to come after Notre Dame led 52-39. Rogers scored twice and assisted on a Morrow bucket as a 6-0 run brought their team within 52-45 and prompted an Irish timeout.
Morris' three-point play and a Church layup off a steal made it a 54-50 game. After an Irish three-pointer, Held retaliated with a four-point play in tightening the game to 57-54.
This was exactly the surge the red-dressed Blue Demons needed, sporting their special red uniforms that are worn on special occasions.
Morrow's scoring kept pace with the visiting team, but a four-point burst put Notre Dame in front 66-57.
It became an 8-0 run and helped enable Notre Dame to secure a 72-59 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Morrow got DePaul off to a good start off the opening tip with a spinning post-up move followed by a three-point play. Rogers hit a deep three and Morris worked her magic with a soft jumper as the home team took a 14-13 lead into the first quarter media timeout.
Notre Dame went ahead by three when Morris took over hitting three consecutive shots to close out the opening period with a 22-20 Blue Demon lead.
Morris can be a streaky scorer, sometimes scoring in volumes. When her rhythm jumper is in sync, it feels like an automatic two points. Her shifty moves along with a stop-and-start dribble throws shakes the defender for an open jumper.
Led by Morris, DePaul shot 53 percent in the opening 10 minutes.
Morrow scored twice early in the second quarter before picking up her second foul and heading to the bench. A Held jumper put her team in front by two until the Fighting Irish scored the next five to lead 31-28 at the media timeout.
After a Kierra Collier three and an Ammons foul shot brought their team within 35-33, the Irish scored the final nine points of the quarter for a 44-33 halftime lead.
The Irish were having success working the ball down low and had 26 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes.
After heating up from long distance the last six games, the Blue Demons made just 2-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half. Morrow had 10 points and six rebounds at the break and Rogers seven points and five boards.
After a Christmas break, the Blue Demons return to Wintrust Arena on Dec. 31 for a BIG EAST showdown against powerful No. 11/11 Connecticut that tips at 1 p.m.
Postgame Notes
Despite a season-low 10 assists and shooting just 25 percent from three-point range, the Blue Demons came whisker-close to taking down one of the top teams in the nation in a 91-86 loss to No. 20/17 Notre Dame Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena.
The setback snapped the Blue Demons' seven-game winning streak.
Each time coach Doug Bruno's team would get down by 11, by 13---his players would come roaring back. Twice the ferocity of the rallies forced Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey to call timeout.
The never-give-in feistiness ran true through the entire starting five who for the second time this season all finished in double-figures and all shot 50 percent or better.
Freshman Aneesah Morrow led the way with her sixth consecutive double-double (19 points, 10 rebounds) and her eighth in the last nine games.
Senior Lexi Held bowed her neck in the fourth quarter and hit some tough shots in the lane while also converting a four-point play to finish with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Her equally talented classmate Sonya Morris added 15 points while Darrione Rogers scored 14 and Deja Church 13.
Overcoming a 13-point deficit in the final 10 minutes against a talented nationally ranked team was a tall order indeed.
To this point, the Blue Demons (11-3) had been victimized by Notre Dame's superior height and strong inside game.
The 6-3 tandem of Maya Dodson and Maddy Westbeld combined for 50 points. Dodson transferred to South Bend after playing for national champion Stanford last season.
No matter, there's simply no quit in coach Bruno's team. Held, Morris, Rogers, Kierra Collier and Morrow collaborated on an inspiring 11-2 run and coming within 74-70 as the Irish called timeout with 7:30 left in the game.
A Collier layup made it a two-point game. The Irish answered, but so did Held. Church converted a three-point play with 5:16 left and DePaul trailed just 78-77.
Tough shots by Morris and Held kept it close with Lexi's coming at the 2:28 mark. The Irish answered with back-to-back baskets for an 86-81 lead with 1:45 to go. Morrow had fouled out at the 3:00 mark.
DePaul's press produced a 10-second violation against Notre Dame and Held---who is among the best in the game at this ploy---drew a charging call. Held then cashed in with a clutch three-pointer and it was 86-84 with 43.1 seconds on the clock.
The Irish's Maya Dodson hit two free throws only to watch Church score on a drive in the lane. Maddy Westbeld closed it out for Notre Dame (11-2) with three foul shots.
Down by 11 at halftime, DePaul needed a third-quarter surge. Better ball movement would help as the home team had just three assists in the first 20 minutes.
It started to come after Notre Dame led 52-39. Rogers scored twice and assisted on a Morrow bucket as a 6-0 run brought their team within 52-45 and prompted an Irish timeout.
Morris' three-point play and a Church layup off a steal made it a 54-50 game. After an Irish three-pointer, Held retaliated with a four-point play in tightening the game to 57-54.
This was exactly the surge the red-dressed Blue Demons needed, sporting their special red uniforms that are worn on special occasions.
Morrow's scoring kept pace with the visiting team, but a four-point burst put Notre Dame in front 66-57.
It became an 8-0 run and helped enable Notre Dame to secure a 72-59 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Morrow got DePaul off to a good start off the opening tip with a spinning post-up move followed by a three-point play. Rogers hit a deep three and Morris worked her magic with a soft jumper as the home team took a 14-13 lead into the first quarter media timeout.
Notre Dame went ahead by three when Morris took over hitting three consecutive shots to close out the opening period with a 22-20 Blue Demon lead.
Morris can be a streaky scorer, sometimes scoring in volumes. When her rhythm jumper is in sync, it feels like an automatic two points. Her shifty moves along with a stop-and-start dribble throws shakes the defender for an open jumper.
Led by Morris, DePaul shot 53 percent in the opening 10 minutes.
Morrow scored twice early in the second quarter before picking up her second foul and heading to the bench. A Held jumper put her team in front by two until the Fighting Irish scored the next five to lead 31-28 at the media timeout.
After a Kierra Collier three and an Ammons foul shot brought their team within 35-33, the Irish scored the final nine points of the quarter for a 44-33 halftime lead.
The Irish were having success working the ball down low and had 26 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes.
After heating up from long distance the last six games, the Blue Demons made just 2-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half. Morrow had 10 points and six rebounds at the break and Rogers seven points and five boards.
After a Christmas break, the Blue Demons return to Wintrust Arena on Dec. 31 for a BIG EAST showdown against powerful No. 11/11 Connecticut that tips at 1 p.m.
Postgame Notes
- The Blue Demons came in leading the country in scoring and assists and have now scored 694 points in their last six games---an average of 99.1 per game. They have reached the century mark five times in the last seven games.
- DePaul has scored 100 or more a total of six times this season. That ties the program record set in 2014-15 (Brittany Hrynko, Jess January, Chanise Jenkins, Megan Rogowski) and 2016-17 (January, Brooke Schulte, Jacqui Grant, Amarah Coleman).
- Morrow came into the game leading the nation in rebounds, offensive rebounds and was sixth in points. She has six consecutive double-doubles and eight in her last nine games.
- Morrow has 185 points and 122 rebounds in her last nine games---an average of 20.6 points and 13.6 rebounds.
- The 6-1 freshman has a total of nine double-doubles which is second in the nation and was the World Exposure Report National Player of the Week.
- Morris (1,360 points) is No. 24 on the all-time scoring list and Held (1,357) is No. 25.
- The Blue Demons are 3-3 against six NCAA tournament teams---beating Kentucky, Northwestern and Rutgers and falling to No. 23/17 Texas A&M, No. 4/8 Arizona and No. 20/17 Notre Dame.
- Held is the BIG EAST's active career scoring leader in conference games with 750 points.
- Morrow has scored in double figures 13 of the first 14 games of her collegiate career.
- The Blue Demons have won the battle of the boards in 11 of 14 games including over No. 4/8 Arizona. Notre Dame outrebounded DePaul 51-26 on Wednesday night including 24-5 on the offensive glass.
Team Stats
ND
DePaul
FG%
.481
.522
3FG%
.118
.250
FT%
.684
.750
RB
51
26
TO
18
13
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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