Six Blue Demons in Double Figures Not Enough on Friday Night

Friday, February 25

Chicago, Ill.

7:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

21-9,13-6Big East

Seton Hall

16-11,11-8Big East

Seton Hall

DePaul

Six Blue Demons in Double Figures Not Enough on Friday Night

2/25/2022 10:27:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Defensive lapses lead to 94-90 BIG EAST loss to Seton Hall at Wintrust Arena

CHICAGO – DePaul certainly had more than enough offense on Friday night with six Blue Demons finishing in double figures.

And the Blue Demons shared the ball well enough with 22 assists on 34 baskets.

You're probably anticipating the "but," and here it is. The team in the home white jerseys didn't play enough defense or get enough stops in a 94-90 BIG EAST loss to Seton Hall, which has now won eight of its last nine games.

Senior Sonya Morris led the way on Senior Night with a team-high 28 points while adding eight rebounds. Aneesah Morrow racked up her 22nd double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds---the All-American candidate's 25th overall which leads the nation.

Collier had 13 points and five rebounds and fellow backcourt mate Darrione Rogers filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Senior Lexi Held finished with 11 points and seven assists while Deja Church contributed 11 points.

DePaul (21-9, 13-6 BIG EAST) had difficulty keeping Seton Hall's best player Lauren Park-Lane under wraps as the Pirates improved to 16-11, 11-8.

Considered by many the best point guard in the BIG EAST this season with Connecticut's all-world playmaker Paige Bueckers missing most of the season with an injury, Park-Lane finished with a game-high 31 points including 17 in the third quarter.

She also played the entire 40 minutes.

DePaul opened the fourth quarter chasing four at 72-68. The deficit grew at Church's layup cut it to 72-70. Seton Hall's seven unanswered points put the visitors from South Orange, N.J. in front 79-70 and causing coach Doug Bruno to call timeout.

The deficit fluctuated between eight and nine points for much of the fourth quarter. Down 86-77 with 4:28 left, the Blue Demons made a late charge.

It began with a pair of Morrow free throws which was followed by Morris' fourth swish from behind the arc. Church's fast-break layup brought her never-say-die team to within 86-84 with 3:26 to go.

That's usually the cue for Bruno's program to stun its opponent and build a healthy lead going down the stretch.

That wasn't meant to be on this February night as Seton Hall refused to give in. The Pirates went up by four when Morris scored off a hustle rebound and timely assist from Collier.

Seton Hall answered, 90-86.

Collier, who had one of her best games in a DePaul uniform, came through with a big-time basket in the clutch with 1:29 on the clock.

Still chasing two points, the Blue Demons were given one more chance when the Pirates turned the ball over with 39 seconds left. The home team misfired on its next three shots, Seton Hall knocked down free throws and that was it.

It was way too close at halftime with the home team clinging to a narrow 44-43 lead.

The Blue Demons led 47-45 when Seton Hall's best player Lauren Park-Lane scored the next 10 points for her team in providing a 55-50 lead at the third quarter media timeout.

Park-Lane continued her offensive assault with two more scores, but threes from Held, Rogers and Morris along with a Morris bank shot brought DePaul within 64-63 at the second media timeout.

Rogers and Morris put their team in front 68-67 when the Pirates scored the final five points of the third quarter for a 72-68 lead. Park-Lane scored 17 points in 10 minutes.

Seton Hall started out strong as befitting perhaps the hottest team in the BIG EAST at the moment. A 6-2 Blue Demon burst tied it at 10-10 when the visiting team scored five-straight.
Morris' three and one by Morrow followed by a Morrow score made it 18-15, DePaul. Another Morris bucket and it was 20-17.

That's when the Pirates scored the final six points of the first quarter for a 23-20 lead. Morris was red-hot, knocking down 5-of-6 shots for 11 points and Morrow had the team's other nine points.

Seton Hall led 25-22 early in the second quarter when back-to-back threes from the senior connection of Held and Morris along with graduate student Church's rebound score launched their team on an 8-0 run for a 30-25 lead at the media timeout.

This is the kind of outburst the Blue Demons are famous for and what opposing teams dread. No wonder Seton Hall coach Tony Bozzella quickly called timeout.

Three-pointers by Church, Collier and Rogers along with two Held free throws fueled an 18-5 run and a 41-30 advantage. Another Collier long-distance strike set up by Dee Bekelja's offensive rebound and assist made it 44-35.

The Pirates scored the final eight points of the first half including Park-Lane's buzzer-beating three and it was 44-43 DePaul at the break.

Morris already had 14 points while Morrow totaled nine points and eight rebounds and Collier had eight points.

It's a quick turnaround as DePaul heads to Omaha, Neb. for an 11 a.m. Sunday showdown against BIG EAST adversary Creighton.

Postgame Notes

Morrow has established the new all-time DePaul single-season rebounding record with 416. Diana Vines (1986-87) previously set the standard with 397.
The Blue Demons lead the country in scoring and have put up 2,060 points in their last 23 games---an average of 89.6 per game. They have reached the century mark nine times to set a new school season record.
The previous record of six was set in 2014-15 (Brittany Hrynko, Jess January, Chanise Jenkins, Megan Rogowski & Co.) and matched by the 2016-17 team featuring January, Brooke Schulte, Jacqui Grant and Amarah Coleman.
Morrow came into the game leading the nation in double-doubles, rebounds, rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game and was second in field goals, third in points and sixth in steals. She now has 22 consecutive double-doubles and 25 on the season. Only three other players in NCAA women's basketball history have recorded 20 or more in a row.
The 6-1 freshman has 283 points and 196 rebounds in her last 12 games---an average of 23.6 points and 16.3 rebounds.
Morrow holds the all-time BIG EAST record (conference games only) for rebounds in a season with 287 and rebounds in a game with 27 on Jan. 30 at Seton Hall.
DePaul has clinched a bye in the first round of the BIG EAST tournament.
Sonya Morris came into the game fourth in the nation in field goals and 10th in attempts while Held was seventh in assists and Church No. 9 in free throw percentage.
Morris cracked the top 10 all-time scoring list with 1,632 points. JoAnn Feiereisel is No. 11 at 1,630. Chante Stonewall (1,622) is No. 12. Chanise Jenkins is No. 13 with 1,605. Beth Hasenmiller (1,600) is No. 14, Debra Robinson is No. 15 with 1,592 points and Keisha Hampton (1,574) is No. 16. Mfon Udoka (1,569) is No. 17, Melanie Ehrhardt (1,552) is No. 18 and Held (1,543) is No. 19.
Deja Church is now a 1,000-point Blue Demon scorer with 1,062 in three years. She transferred in after playing two seasons at Michigan.
Dee Bekelja has played in 139 games and is tied with Brittany Hrynko for third all-time in DePaul history. Ashton Millender holds the record with 144 games.
The Blue Demons are 3-6 against nine NCAA tournament teams---beating then No. 14/14 Kentucky, Northwestern and Rutgers and falling to then-No. 23/17 Texas A&M, No. 4/8 Arizona, No. 20/17 Notre Dame, Marquette and No.8/8 UConn twice.
They are 3-1 against Wildcat teams---beating Kentucky, Northwestern and Villanova and falling to Arizona.
Held is the BIG EAST's active career scoring leader in conference games with 938 points.
Morrow has scored in double figures 29 of the first 30 games of her collegiate career.
DePaul is 19-11 outrebounding opponents including Arizona featuring 6-5 Lauren Ware and 6-3 Ariyah Copeland. DePaul lost the battle of the boards Friday night 48-44.