Saturday, March 20
Rockford, Ill.
2:00 P.M. CT
DePaul University
14-10,11-5Big East
91
vs
100
Drake
17-12,13-5MVC
1
2
3
4
F
DePaul
21
24
22
24
91
Drake
30
27
20
23
100
DePaul's Season Ends With 100-91 Loss to Drake
3/20/2021 3:57:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday setback concludes Blue Demons' WNIT run
ROCKFORD, Ill. – Finishing on a high note was uppermost in the minds of DePaul's players on Saturday.
That wasn't how it turned out at the UW Health Sports Factory.
In their final game of this COVID-19 pandemic season when the surreal and unpredictable washed upon everyone hand-in-hand, the Blue Demons fell to a hot-shooting Drake team 100-91 in a Postseason WNIT consolation game.
Drake (17-12) went 17-of-34 from three-point range and continually blunted any DePaul rallies and runs with that long-distance accuracy. Coach Doug Bruno's team was 13-of-34 from distance and finished with an overall record of 14-10.
Sonya Morris had another superb game, tying a career-high with 30 points after scoring a season-high 28 points just 24 hours earlier in a loss to Saint Louis.
Deja Church had one of her better performances in her senior season with 23 points. Lexi Held contributed 18 points while Dee Bekelja added 11.
It was for Bruno and his coaching staff a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde experience this season that even noted Scottish author Robert Lewis Stevenson who penned the Gothic novella could not have foretold.
It was a strange case indeed with this highly respected national program starting out 13-4 with the only losses to current consensus No. 1 Connecticut (twice), consensus No. 4 Texas A&M (by two points) and No. 6/7 Louisville.
By those parameters, this was a team seemingly destined for yet another run into the NCAA tournament, only to be derailed by an untimely slump and some heart-breaking, late-game losses near the end of the season.
Just as in recent games, the Blue Demons dug a hole and couldn't quite climb back out. Down by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Morris, Held and Bekelja sparked an offense that cut the Drake lead to 79-75 after a Held three. It was 90-83 at the fourth quarter media timeout.
Church's three again reduced the deficit to seven at 93-86, but that was the closest DePaul would come. Morris scored the final five points of the season for the Blue Demons.
This truly was a win-or-go-home scenario for the Blue Demons, magnifying the sense of urgency that always permeates the postseason.
Five points by Dee Bekelja and a Morris score cut a 12-point halftime deficit to 58-52. Drake retaliated and led 68-56 at the media timeout.
It remained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the quarter. Held's buzzer-beating three sent her team into the fourth quarter trailing 77-67.
Drake came out strong after the opening tip making six of its first eight shots and taking a 13-5 lead at the media timeout. The Bulldogs were having success working the ball down low for paint points.
Five-straight Church points highlighted an 8-0 surge to tie it at 13-13. After a Rogers three brought her team within 24-21, Drake closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 30-21 after the first 10 minutes.
Jorie Allen, Held, Dee Bekelja and Kiara Dallmann combined to bring DePaul within 33-32 early in the second quarter. Back came the Bulldogs with a 9-2 burst to lead 42-34 at the media timeout.
Church connected from behind the arc and it was a five-point game. That's when Butler took off on a 15-6 run in stretch the DePaul deficit to 57-43. Church's corner swish left her team trailing 57-45 at halftime. Church led the Blue Demons with 14 points at the break while Morris had eight and Held seven.
Drake converted 10 of its first 16 attempts from three-point range. There was a point in the second quarter when both teams combined to knock down seven consecutive three-pointers.
Postgame Notes
That wasn't how it turned out at the UW Health Sports Factory.
In their final game of this COVID-19 pandemic season when the surreal and unpredictable washed upon everyone hand-in-hand, the Blue Demons fell to a hot-shooting Drake team 100-91 in a Postseason WNIT consolation game.
Drake (17-12) went 17-of-34 from three-point range and continually blunted any DePaul rallies and runs with that long-distance accuracy. Coach Doug Bruno's team was 13-of-34 from distance and finished with an overall record of 14-10.
Sonya Morris had another superb game, tying a career-high with 30 points after scoring a season-high 28 points just 24 hours earlier in a loss to Saint Louis.
Deja Church had one of her better performances in her senior season with 23 points. Lexi Held contributed 18 points while Dee Bekelja added 11.
It was for Bruno and his coaching staff a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde experience this season that even noted Scottish author Robert Lewis Stevenson who penned the Gothic novella could not have foretold.
It was a strange case indeed with this highly respected national program starting out 13-4 with the only losses to current consensus No. 1 Connecticut (twice), consensus No. 4 Texas A&M (by two points) and No. 6/7 Louisville.
By those parameters, this was a team seemingly destined for yet another run into the NCAA tournament, only to be derailed by an untimely slump and some heart-breaking, late-game losses near the end of the season.
Just as in recent games, the Blue Demons dug a hole and couldn't quite climb back out. Down by 10 entering the fourth quarter, Morris, Held and Bekelja sparked an offense that cut the Drake lead to 79-75 after a Held three. It was 90-83 at the fourth quarter media timeout.
Church's three again reduced the deficit to seven at 93-86, but that was the closest DePaul would come. Morris scored the final five points of the season for the Blue Demons.
This truly was a win-or-go-home scenario for the Blue Demons, magnifying the sense of urgency that always permeates the postseason.
Five points by Dee Bekelja and a Morris score cut a 12-point halftime deficit to 58-52. Drake retaliated and led 68-56 at the media timeout.
It remained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the quarter. Held's buzzer-beating three sent her team into the fourth quarter trailing 77-67.
Drake came out strong after the opening tip making six of its first eight shots and taking a 13-5 lead at the media timeout. The Bulldogs were having success working the ball down low for paint points.
Five-straight Church points highlighted an 8-0 surge to tie it at 13-13. After a Rogers three brought her team within 24-21, Drake closed out the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 30-21 after the first 10 minutes.
Jorie Allen, Held, Dee Bekelja and Kiara Dallmann combined to bring DePaul within 33-32 early in the second quarter. Back came the Bulldogs with a 9-2 burst to lead 42-34 at the media timeout.
Church connected from behind the arc and it was a five-point game. That's when Butler took off on a 15-6 run in stretch the DePaul deficit to 57-43. Church's corner swish left her team trailing 57-45 at halftime. Church led the Blue Demons with 14 points at the break while Morris had eight and Held seven.
Drake converted 10 of its first 16 attempts from three-point range. There was a point in the second quarter when both teams combined to knock down seven consecutive three-pointers.
Postgame Notes
- The Blue Demons are 8-12 all-time in the WNIT.
- Morris tie a career high with 30 points.
- Kiara Dallmann had a career-high nine rebounds.
- DePaul's all-time series record against Drake is now 2-1. The last time these two met before Saturday was back in 1981.
- Drake connected on 17-of-34 from deep and DePaul was 13-of-34. That's a combined 30 from both teams in this long-range shootout.
- At one point in the middle of the second quarter, both teams combined to hit seven consecutive three-pointers.
- The Blue Demons were outrebounded 50-27.
- The last time DePaul lost four in a row was the 2003-04 season with Conference USA road setbacks at Houston, TCU and Marquette followed by a home loss against Marquette. The Blue Demons were 23-7 that season with eight and 10-game winning streaks.
- Morris is second in the BIG EAST in scoring 20-or-more points with 13 times in 23 games. Villanova's Maddy Siegrist leads with 14. Morris' 26 points on Jan. 16 at Georgetown tied her previous 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 167 points in her last nine games.
- Morris has 189 points in her last nine games.
- Held has 41 steals in her last 11 games and is No. 5 in the nation in steals.
- DePaul is receiving votes in both the 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 14 of 24 games this season including 27 against then-No. 10/10 Texas A&M and 23 against both then-No. 2/2 Louisville and No. 9/9 Kentucky. Georgetown's 33 miscues on Jan. 16 were a season high. Drake had 18 on Saturday. The Blue Demons are No. 8 in the nation in forcing turnovers averaging more than 21 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 the third 1,000-point scorer of the season on Feb. 17 against Xavier.
Team Stats
DePaul
DRA
FG%
.467
.513
3FG%
.382
.500
FT%
.727
.714
RB
27
50
TO
11
18
STL
8
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
11
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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