Monday, February 15
Wintrust Arena
6:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
12-4,9-2Big East
82
vs
76
Seton Hall
9-6,7-5Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Seton Hall
17
14
20
25
76
DePaul
13
18
30
21
82
No. 19/22 DePaul Prevails 82-76 Over Seton Hall
2/15/2021 8:58:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Bekelja's second double-double of the season sparks seventh win in eight games
CHICAGO – This was a great way to begin a four-game Wintrust Arena home stand.
Despite the city being in the numbing grip of a polar vortex, No. 19/22 DePaul warmed up to an 82-76 BIG EAST victory over Seton Hall Monday night in the South Loop. The Blue Demons improved to 12-4, 9-2 in the BIG EAST while the Pirates dropped to 9-6, 7-5.
"Double-Double Dee" Bekelja led a balanced attack with 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the season and third of her career. Sonya Morris filled the stat sheet with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Lexi Held finished with 17 points to give her 1,010 for her career. Jorie Allen displayed a nifty scoring touch in the blocks with 10 points and six rebounds. Deja Church had seven points, five rebounds and four assists while Darrione Rogers added six points and nine rebounds.
"DePaulBall" was missing in action the first 20 minutes on Monday night, but made its appearance at the outset of the third quarter as Morris returned to form after making just two of nine shots in the first half. Six Allen points, five by Morris and Bekelja's three-point play provided a 45-34 lead at the media timeout.
Seton Hall cut the Blue Demon lead to 45-38 when Held scored on a pretty layup curling the ball in off the rim. That was the 1,000th career point for the junior guard. Church had reached that milestone last month.
Morris stayed hot and her three-pointer helped her team maintain a 50-42 advantage at the second media timeout. A Church three-pointer followed by a Rogers score and pair of Allen free throws made it 59-44. The Pirates crept within 61-51 after three quarters.
Outscoring Seton Hall 30-21 in the third quarter set up the Blue Demons for the final 10 minutes. Held's three and yet another Bekelja basket gave the home team a 66-55 lead at the fourth quarter media timeout.
Another Held connection from deep and Allen's post score made it 71-55. A late Seton Hall surge brought the visiting team within 80-76 when Held buried a pair of free throws.
With eight guards on the court at tipoff, the action was fast and furious. DePaul shot out to a 7-0 lead only to see Seton Hall score six unanswered. Baskets by Church and Morris provided an 11-8 edge to the home team at the first quarter media timeout.
Church appeared to be maintaining her recent surge, in particular finishing more strongly at the rim. The Pirates looked primed to match the Blue Demons' fast pace step-for-step.
Coach Doug Bruno's team went cold from the field the rest of the period making just one of nine shots. Seton Hall took advantage closing out the first quarter on a 7-0 burst for a 17-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.
When the Pirates went ahead 21-15 early in the second quarter, Bruno called a timeout to refocus his team. What came next could be described as a "Dee spree" as Bekelja scored three times in a row to even it up at 21-21.
Morris made just one of her first eight shots as her team trailed 26-23. She combined with the irrepressible Bekelja and Darrione Rogers for an 8-2 burst and a 31-28 lead. Lauren Park-Lane's buzzer-beating three tied it 31-31 at halftime.
Bekelja was red-hot in the first 20 minutes going 6-of-8 from the field to lead all scorers at the break with an even dozen points. Seton Hall's best player Andra Espinoza-Hunter only had four points but pulled down 13 rebounds in the first half.
The Blue Demons are right back in action Wednesday with a BIG EAST matchup against Xavier at Wintrust Arena that will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Postgame Notes
Despite the city being in the numbing grip of a polar vortex, No. 19/22 DePaul warmed up to an 82-76 BIG EAST victory over Seton Hall Monday night in the South Loop. The Blue Demons improved to 12-4, 9-2 in the BIG EAST while the Pirates dropped to 9-6, 7-5.
"Double-Double Dee" Bekelja led a balanced attack with 22 points and 10 rebounds. It was her second double-double of the season and third of her career. Sonya Morris filled the stat sheet with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Lexi Held finished with 17 points to give her 1,010 for her career. Jorie Allen displayed a nifty scoring touch in the blocks with 10 points and six rebounds. Deja Church had seven points, five rebounds and four assists while Darrione Rogers added six points and nine rebounds.
"DePaulBall" was missing in action the first 20 minutes on Monday night, but made its appearance at the outset of the third quarter as Morris returned to form after making just two of nine shots in the first half. Six Allen points, five by Morris and Bekelja's three-point play provided a 45-34 lead at the media timeout.
Seton Hall cut the Blue Demon lead to 45-38 when Held scored on a pretty layup curling the ball in off the rim. That was the 1,000th career point for the junior guard. Church had reached that milestone last month.
Morris stayed hot and her three-pointer helped her team maintain a 50-42 advantage at the second media timeout. A Church three-pointer followed by a Rogers score and pair of Allen free throws made it 59-44. The Pirates crept within 61-51 after three quarters.
Outscoring Seton Hall 30-21 in the third quarter set up the Blue Demons for the final 10 minutes. Held's three and yet another Bekelja basket gave the home team a 66-55 lead at the fourth quarter media timeout.
Another Held connection from deep and Allen's post score made it 71-55. A late Seton Hall surge brought the visiting team within 80-76 when Held buried a pair of free throws.
With eight guards on the court at tipoff, the action was fast and furious. DePaul shot out to a 7-0 lead only to see Seton Hall score six unanswered. Baskets by Church and Morris provided an 11-8 edge to the home team at the first quarter media timeout.
Church appeared to be maintaining her recent surge, in particular finishing more strongly at the rim. The Pirates looked primed to match the Blue Demons' fast pace step-for-step.
Coach Doug Bruno's team went cold from the field the rest of the period making just one of nine shots. Seton Hall took advantage closing out the first quarter on a 7-0 burst for a 17-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.
When the Pirates went ahead 21-15 early in the second quarter, Bruno called a timeout to refocus his team. What came next could be described as a "Dee spree" as Bekelja scored three times in a row to even it up at 21-21.
Morris made just one of her first eight shots as her team trailed 26-23. She combined with the irrepressible Bekelja and Darrione Rogers for an 8-2 burst and a 31-28 lead. Lauren Park-Lane's buzzer-beating three tied it 31-31 at halftime.
Bekelja was red-hot in the first 20 minutes going 6-of-8 from the field to lead all scorers at the break with an even dozen points. Seton Hall's best player Andra Espinoza-Hunter only had four points but pulled down 13 rebounds in the first half.
The Blue Demons are right back in action Wednesday with a BIG EAST matchup against Xavier at Wintrust Arena that will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul has won seven of its last eight games with the lone setback coming to No. 1/1 Connecticut.
- The Blue Demons have won five in a row and 11 their last 12 games against Seton Hall with a series record of 22-4.
- Dee Bekelja recorded her second double-double of the season and third of her career.
- This was the first of four home games in a row with Xavier on Wednesday, Creighton on Saturday and longtime rival Marquette on Feb. 24.
- The color pink was prominently featured in Monday night's Play4Kay game raising awareness and funding to combat breast cancer. Kay Yow was the iconic former North Carolina State coach who waged a courageous fight against the insidious disease and inspired a nation before her passing in 2009 after a 22-year battle.
- Sonya Morris leads the team and the BIG EAST having scored 20-or-more points 10 times in 16 games. Her 26 points on Jan. 16 at Georgetown tied her season and team high---scoring 26 Dec. 13 against Loyola.
- Lexi Held is a double-figure scorer in every game except one.
- Held has 21 steals in her last five games.
- DePaul checked in at No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and is No. 22 in the USA Today/Coaches poll which will be updated on Tuesday.
- Bruno's full-court pressure tactics and his players' ball-hawking aggression have forced 20 or more turnovers in every game except five 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 33 miscues on Jan. 16 were a season high. Guard-oriented Seton Hall only had 12 on Monday. The Blue Demons are No. 6 in the nation in forcing turnovers averaging nearly 23 a game.
- After Deja Church reached the 1,000-point mark in her career on Jan. 21 at Butler, Lexi Held reached the milestone on Monday night. Sonya Morris is 18 points away from the 1K plateau.
Team Stats
SHU
DePaul
FG%
.405
.392
3FG%
.192
.296
FT%
.438
.842
RB
46
48
TO
12
12
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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