Monday, March 1
Wintrust Arena
4:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
14-7,11-5Big East
86
vs
81
Butler
3-16,3-15Big East
1
2
3
4
F
Butler
19
21
30
16
86
DePaul
19
22
24
16
81
No. 25/23 DePaul Falls to Butler 86-81 on Monday
3/1/2021 7:03:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Blue Demons run into hot-shooting Bulldogs at Wintrust Arena
CHICAGO – No. 25/23 DePaul ran into a hot-shooting Butler team on Monday that put a damper on Senior Day as the Blue Demons came up short 86-81 at Wintrust Arena.
The setback left DePaul with a final regular season record of 14-7 and 11-5 in the BIG EAST while Butler finished at 3-16, 3-15 after shooting 54.1 percent from the field including 45.5 percent from three-point range.
Deja Church led the Blue Demons with her second double-double of the season---20 points and 12 rebounds while also adding five assists and five steals. The 12 rebounds tied a career high.
Lexi Held also scored 20 points and also tied a career high with seven steals. Jorie Allen scored a career-high 18 points with six boards while Darrione Rogers contributed 13 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Butler was shooting nearly 58 percent after three quarters including 50 percent from behind the arc by five early in the fourth quarter. Church answered with a three-point play and followed up with a pair of free throws to tie it 73-73. But the visiting team retook the lead by two at the fourth quarter media timeout.
A clutch Held three knotted it up at 76-76 until the Bulldogs matched her shot. Church scored to bring her team within 79-78 but the Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run to lead 84-79 with 1:35 left. Church scored again, but that was the closest DePaul would get.
The Blue Demons began the third quarter with a precarious 41-40 lead, and consecutive Dee Bekelja baskets made it 45-42. Four-straight by Butler put the visitors from Indianapolis in front as Bruno called timeout.
A Bekelja three-pointer gave the DePaul senior all seven of her team's points early in the third quarter. Allen's three-point play put her team on top 53-52 midway through the period. It was a back-and forth game until the Bulldogs closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run and led 70-65 heading into the final 10 minutes.
A senior-laden starting lineup (Dee Bekelja, Deja Church, Jolene Daninger, Kiara Dallmann) along with junior Lexi Held started out slowly and went 0-for-7 from the field early in the first quarter. A three-pointer from Rogers and baskets by Church and Allen tied it 11-11 at the media timeout.
Butler led 16-15 in the waning minutes of the quarter Church scored back-to-back---the first score compliments of Held's fourth steal followed by a nifty assist. It was 19-19 after one quarter.
The home team scored the first seven points of the second quarter for a 26-19 advantage. The Bulldogs responded with an 8-2 spurt. Back came DePaul with long-distance connections from Rogers and Allen to lead 34-29 at the media timeout.
An Allen free throw followed by Rogers' third three-pointer in four attempts provided the largest lead of the first half at 38-29. That seemed to bring out the Bulldog in the visiting team as an 11-1 run allowed Butler to regain a 40-39 lead. Held's free throws gave her team a slim 41-40 edge at halftime.
Allen had 11 points and four rebounds in the first 20 minutes while Held added 10 points and five steals. Rogers had nine points and five rebounds at the break.
Next up for the Blue Demons is a quarterfinal matchup Saturday in the BIG EAST tournament being held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Postgame Notes
The setback left DePaul with a final regular season record of 14-7 and 11-5 in the BIG EAST while Butler finished at 3-16, 3-15 after shooting 54.1 percent from the field including 45.5 percent from three-point range.
Deja Church led the Blue Demons with her second double-double of the season---20 points and 12 rebounds while also adding five assists and five steals. The 12 rebounds tied a career high.
Lexi Held also scored 20 points and also tied a career high with seven steals. Jorie Allen scored a career-high 18 points with six boards while Darrione Rogers contributed 13 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
Butler was shooting nearly 58 percent after three quarters including 50 percent from behind the arc by five early in the fourth quarter. Church answered with a three-point play and followed up with a pair of free throws to tie it 73-73. But the visiting team retook the lead by two at the fourth quarter media timeout.
A clutch Held three knotted it up at 76-76 until the Bulldogs matched her shot. Church scored to bring her team within 79-78 but the Bulldogs went on a 5-1 run to lead 84-79 with 1:35 left. Church scored again, but that was the closest DePaul would get.
The Blue Demons began the third quarter with a precarious 41-40 lead, and consecutive Dee Bekelja baskets made it 45-42. Four-straight by Butler put the visitors from Indianapolis in front as Bruno called timeout.
A Bekelja three-pointer gave the DePaul senior all seven of her team's points early in the third quarter. Allen's three-point play put her team on top 53-52 midway through the period. It was a back-and forth game until the Bulldogs closed out the quarter on a 9-2 run and led 70-65 heading into the final 10 minutes.
A senior-laden starting lineup (Dee Bekelja, Deja Church, Jolene Daninger, Kiara Dallmann) along with junior Lexi Held started out slowly and went 0-for-7 from the field early in the first quarter. A three-pointer from Rogers and baskets by Church and Allen tied it 11-11 at the media timeout.
Butler led 16-15 in the waning minutes of the quarter Church scored back-to-back---the first score compliments of Held's fourth steal followed by a nifty assist. It was 19-19 after one quarter.
The home team scored the first seven points of the second quarter for a 26-19 advantage. The Bulldogs responded with an 8-2 spurt. Back came DePaul with long-distance connections from Rogers and Allen to lead 34-29 at the media timeout.
An Allen free throw followed by Rogers' third three-pointer in four attempts provided the largest lead of the first half at 38-29. That seemed to bring out the Bulldog in the visiting team as an 11-1 run allowed Butler to regain a 40-39 lead. Held's free throws gave her team a slim 41-40 edge at halftime.
Allen had 11 points and four rebounds in the first 20 minutes while Held added 10 points and five steals. Rogers had nine points and five rebounds at the break.
Next up for the Blue Demons is a quarterfinal matchup Saturday in the BIG EAST tournament being held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Postgame Notes
- DePaul's series record against Butler is now 18-1.
- Jorie Allen scored a career-high 18 points and Deja Church tied a career high with 12 rebounds. Along with her 20 points, this was Church's second double-double of the season.
- The Senior Day starting lineup included four honorees---Dee Bekelja, Deja Church, Jolene Daninger and Kiara Dallmann. Junior Lexi Held rounded out the starting five.
- Sonya Morris is second in the BIG EAST in scoring 20-or-more points with 11 times in 20 games. Villanova's Maddy Siegrist leads with 12. Morris' 26 points on Jan. 16 at Georgetown tied her season and the team high---also scoring 26 Dec. 13 against Loyola.
- Lexi Held is a double-figure scorer in every game except one and has 123 points in her last six games. She tied a career high with seven steals.
- Morris has 131 points in her last seven games.
- Held has 38 steals in her last eight games and had four thefts in the first quarter on Monday. She is No. 5 in the nation in steals.
- After the game, DePaul's Senior Day ceremony honored Dee Bekelja, Deja Church, Jolene Daninger, Kiara Dallmann, injured graduate transfer Courtney Fredrickson and managers Steve Cieniawa and Kezjahree Wingate.
- DePaul checked in at No. 25 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 and No. 23 in 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 seven 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. Butler had 18 on Monday. The Blue Demons are No. 6 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. They were honored during a pregame ceremony on Monday.
Team Stats
Butler
DePaul
FG%
.541
.346
3FG%
.455
.270
FT%
.909
.833
RB
37
42
TO
18
10
STL
8
16
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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