Welcome Back to 'My Old Kentucky Home'

LEXINGTON, Ky. – When the United Airlines flight touched down on Blue Grass Airport Wednesday, DePaul standout Lexi Held set foot on familiar terrain in the land of basketball, bourbon and horse racing.

Held was born and raised in Burlington, Ky., a small town of about 16,000 just 75 miles north of Lexington and home to the Dinsmore Homestead, Boone County Nature Preserve and the Rabbit Hash General Store.

DePaul Athletics Director DeWayne Peevy will join the team after first making his mark in collegiate athletics as the Kentucky Deputy Athletic Director and right-hand man to one of the Bluegrass State's leading lights, Wildcats basketball coach John Calipari.

And although this could be interpreted as a heartwarming homecoming with the melodious strains of "My Old Kentucky Home" wafting in the background, this is no sentimental journey for Peevy and especially Held.

DePaul is in town to take on No. 14/14 Kentucky Thursday night in the hallowed confines of legendary Rupp Arena with the mindset of upsetting one of the nation's best.

The showdown will be televised on the SEC Network with Roy Philpott and former WNBA and Tennessee star Tamika Catchings on the call.

The Blue Demons have had two cracks at knocking off the women's basketball elite this season, falling to No. 18/15 Texas A&M in College Station, Texas and in the final minute to No. 6/10 Arizona at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

Third time the charm?

Lexi Held certainly hopes so as upwards of 45 or so family members, friends and Burlington acquaintances will be in Rupp Arena to cheer her on.

Even now, coach Doug Bruno is concocting a strategy to maximize his resources while at the same time containing the talented Wildcats (6-1) led by Player-of-the-Year candidate 6-foot, 2-inch guard Rhyne Howard who is averaging 20.6 points and 7.4 rebounds along with 6-2 Dre'una Edwards (18.9 points, 7.9 rebounds), Robyn Benton (12 points) and Jada Walker (10.9 points).

Bruno is well aware that his Kentucky counterpart Kyra Elzy has reminded her players a time or two about last season when it was Blue Demon over Blue Grass 86-82 at Wintrust Arena.

DePaul (7-2) departed O'Hare International Airport with the distinction of leading the nation in scoring at 88.2 points a game. Bruno took that with a grain of salt, focusing instead on tightening up his team's defensive play.

DePaul scored 101 points against Butler last Friday and 103 against Xavier on Sunday, marking the first time since the 2014-15 season when a team scored 100+ in back-to-back BIG EAST games. DePaul also had that distinction in 2014-15, putting up 105 against Georgetown on Jan. 4, 2015 followed by 101 at Marquette on Jan. 9.

Unleashing 6-1 freshman Aneesah Morrow (18.4 points, 11.3 rebounds a game) on an unsuspecting women's hoops world has keyed the Blue Demons' early success with her relentless rebounding and power put-backs in the low blocks.

She has been the ideal complement to DePaul's perpetual-motion cadre of talented guards headed by All-BIG EAST performers Sonya Morris (16.2 points a game) and Held (13.3) along with a resurgent Deja Church (14.7 points) who is off to the best start of her collegiate career that includes two years at Michigan.

The seven-guard attack runs deep with Darrione Rogers, Dee Bekelja, Kierra Collier and Kendall Holmes combining for more than 24 points a game---and that's with Rogers just recently emerging from an unaccustomed shooting slump.

Each and every one of the Blue Demons are wishing for a fun and successful homecoming for their favorite Kentucky-born playmaker.

"Being able to come home and play in front of people that I care a lot about is always more fun," Held said. "Being in Rupp Arena is a huge deal.

"I think it will be a really fun environment, and it's going to be a really good game. It's definitely going to be exciting."

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Players Mentioned

Dee Bekelja

Deja Church

Kierra Collier

Lexi Held

Kendall Holmes

Sonya Morris

Aneesah Morrow

Darrione Rogers