Saturday, February 20
Wintrust Arena
1:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
13-5,10-3Big East
83
vs
72
Creighton
7-8,6-5Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Creighton
25
17
17
24
83
DePaul
18
18
16
20
72
Cold Shooting Snaps No. 19/19 DePaul's Four-Game Winning Streak
2/20/2021 3:55:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue Demons fall to Creighton 83-72 Saturday at Wintrust Arena
CHICAGO – A cold-shooting game and an opponent that couldn't seem to miss when it counted the most combined to snap No. 19/19 DePaul's four-game winning streak on Saturday.
The Blue Demons dropped an 83-72 decision to a Creighton team that shot 7-of-11 in the fourth quarter including 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Lexi Held finished with 17 points and a career-high seven steals while Sonya Morris also scored 17 and added six rebounds.
Inside force Jorie Allen had one of her best games in a Blue Demon uniform with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Dee Bekelja contributed 10 points. Emma Ronsiek had a game-high 27 points including 13 in the fourth quarter. She was 9-of-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from distance.
DePaul is now 13-5 on the season and 10-3 in the BIG EAST while Creighton improved to 7-8, 6-5.
Overcoming a seven-point deficit with one quarter to go against a hot-shooting team was a tough ask.
Three-pointers by Bekelja and Deja Church provided a spark early in the fourth quarter as their team pulled within 63-58. But as they had done all game, the Bluejays answered back and it was 67-58 at the media timeout.
Creighton's shooting accuracy just seemed to match whatever headway DePaul could make cutting into the deficit.
A Morris basket made it 67-60 only to have Creighton connect on back-to-back threes. Ronsiek's three-pointer followed by a jumper left the Blue Demons down 78-64 with less than two minutes to go.
The challenge at halftime for the home team was better shooting from distance and a tighter defensive effort as Creighton built a 42-36 lead shooting 61 percent from the field including 3-of-4 from deep in the first 20 minutes.
A Bekelja three-pointer and Allen's tough score inside brought the Blue Demons within 44-41 early in the third quarter. Creighton responded with a 10-4 run and led 54-45 at the media timeout.
It was 57-45 when Allen and Morris scored back-to-back. A Creighton score just before the second media timeout restored its 10-point lead.
Closing out the quarter on a 7-2 run with Allen scoring five of those points left DePaul trailing 59-52 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Allen bolted out of the starting gate scoring five of DePaul's first seven points. She is developing a nice rapport with Held, who is consistently setting up her teammate with pinpoint passes in the paint.
The connection works both ways. Allen is excelling at the give-and-go assist, setting up Held for back-to-back baskets as the Blue Demons went into the first quarter media timeout with an 11-4 lead.
Creighton came back with a fury, mounting runs of 10-2 and 11-5 for a 25-18 lead after one quarter. The Bluejays made 8-of-12 shots including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Falling behind 27-18 early in the second quarter, the Blue Demons ran off eight straight as Held connected from deep and Morris converted a three-point play. Creighton maintained a slim lead and it was 33-29 at the media timeout.
The Bluejays stayed hot from outside, connecting on 61 percent of their attempts in the first half in pulling out to a 42-33 lead with 10 seconds left in the first half. Darrione Rogers knocked down a deep corner three and was fouled but couldn't cash in on the rare four-point play.
DePaul headed into intermission trailing 42-36, shooting just 18.8 percent from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. Held was the only scorer in double figures on either team with 13 points.
The Blue Demons conclude a four-game home stand on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. BIG EAST matchup against longtime rival Marquette at Wintrust Arena that will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Postgame Notes
The Blue Demons dropped an 83-72 decision to a Creighton team that shot 7-of-11 in the fourth quarter including 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Lexi Held finished with 17 points and a career-high seven steals while Sonya Morris also scored 17 and added six rebounds.
Inside force Jorie Allen had one of her best games in a Blue Demon uniform with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Dee Bekelja contributed 10 points. Emma Ronsiek had a game-high 27 points including 13 in the fourth quarter. She was 9-of-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from distance.
DePaul is now 13-5 on the season and 10-3 in the BIG EAST while Creighton improved to 7-8, 6-5.
Overcoming a seven-point deficit with one quarter to go against a hot-shooting team was a tough ask.
Three-pointers by Bekelja and Deja Church provided a spark early in the fourth quarter as their team pulled within 63-58. But as they had done all game, the Bluejays answered back and it was 67-58 at the media timeout.
Creighton's shooting accuracy just seemed to match whatever headway DePaul could make cutting into the deficit.
A Morris basket made it 67-60 only to have Creighton connect on back-to-back threes. Ronsiek's three-pointer followed by a jumper left the Blue Demons down 78-64 with less than two minutes to go.
The challenge at halftime for the home team was better shooting from distance and a tighter defensive effort as Creighton built a 42-36 lead shooting 61 percent from the field including 3-of-4 from deep in the first 20 minutes.
A Bekelja three-pointer and Allen's tough score inside brought the Blue Demons within 44-41 early in the third quarter. Creighton responded with a 10-4 run and led 54-45 at the media timeout.
It was 57-45 when Allen and Morris scored back-to-back. A Creighton score just before the second media timeout restored its 10-point lead.
Closing out the quarter on a 7-2 run with Allen scoring five of those points left DePaul trailing 59-52 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Allen bolted out of the starting gate scoring five of DePaul's first seven points. She is developing a nice rapport with Held, who is consistently setting up her teammate with pinpoint passes in the paint.
The connection works both ways. Allen is excelling at the give-and-go assist, setting up Held for back-to-back baskets as the Blue Demons went into the first quarter media timeout with an 11-4 lead.
Creighton came back with a fury, mounting runs of 10-2 and 11-5 for a 25-18 lead after one quarter. The Bluejays made 8-of-12 shots including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Falling behind 27-18 early in the second quarter, the Blue Demons ran off eight straight as Held connected from deep and Morris converted a three-point play. Creighton maintained a slim lead and it was 33-29 at the media timeout.
The Bluejays stayed hot from outside, connecting on 61 percent of their attempts in the first half in pulling out to a 42-33 lead with 10 seconds left in the first half. Darrione Rogers knocked down a deep corner three and was fouled but couldn't cash in on the rare four-point play.
DePaul headed into intermission trailing 42-36, shooting just 18.8 percent from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. Held was the only scorer in double figures on either team with 13 points.
The Blue Demons conclude a four-game home stand on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. BIG EAST matchup against longtime rival Marquette at Wintrust Arena that will be shown on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul's four-game winning streak came to an end with its second loss in the last 10 games.
- The home team went 6-of-28 from three-point range---21.4 percent.
- The Blue Demons' series record against Creighton is now 15-5.
- This was the third of four home games in a row that finishes up with rival Marquette on Wednesday.
- Sonya Morris leads the team and the BIG EAST having scored 20-or-more points 11 times in 18 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.
- Morris has 103 points in her last five games.
- Held has 33 steals in her last seven games---nearly five per game. She had a career-high seven on Saturday
- DePaul checked in at No. 19 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today/Coaches poll.
- 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. Creighton had 22 on Saturday. The Blue Demons are No. 7 in the nation in forcing turnovers averaging more than 22 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 Feb. 15 against Seton Hall. Sonya Morris became DePaul's third 1,000-point scorer of the season on Feb. 17 against Xavier.
Team Stats
CU
DePaul
FG%
.580
.382
3FG%
.533
.214
FT%
.944
.800
RB
41
27
TO
22
11
STL
5
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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