DePaul Drops 71-70 Heartbreaker to Villanova in BIG EAST Quarterfinals

Saturday, March 4

Uncasville, Conn.

6:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

No. 2 Villanova

DePaul Drops 71-70 Heartbreaker to Villanova in BIG EAST Quarterfinals

3/4/2023 8:59:00 PM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)

Blue Demons close out the season 16-17 on the year

Uncasville, Conn. – DePaul dropped a 71-70 heavyweight battle to 11th-ranked Villanova on Saturday night in the Quarterfinal round of the 2023 BIG EAST Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena. The two squads went toe-to-toe down to the final moments before the Wildcats used a 7-0 run in the last 90 seconds of the game to claim the one-point victory and advance to Sunday's semifinals.

Aneesah Morrow notched her 25th double-double of the season and 52nd of her career with 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Blue Demons. Her 17 boards are the most by a DePaul player in a BIG EAST Tournament game.

Kendall Holmes provided a huge lift with 20 points on five-of-nine shooting from distance while collecting five rebounds. Anaya Peoples also finished in double figures with 17 points in addition to six rebounds and five assists.

As a team, DePaul outrebounded the Wildcats 54-36 including a 24-10 advantage on the offensive glass. The 54 rebounds is a season-high for the Blue Demons.

A three-minute scoring drought put the Blue Demons down by two possessions, 10-6, at the first media timeout of the first quarter. The Wildcats used a 12-3 run to jump in front by nine, before DePaul closed the deficit to six, 20-14, after 10 minutes of action.

DePaul used a 7-0 run capped by a Peoples drive to the basket to take a 28-24 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half before Villanova responded with a 16-4 run to close out the quarter and claim a 40-32 edge at halftime.

After 20 minutes, Peoples led the Blue Demons with 10 points while Morrow had nine points to go with eight rebounds.

The Blue Demons continued to push the tempo in the third with Peoples finding Holmes underneath on the fastbreak to cut the deficit to just two, 46-44, and force a Villanova timeout with five and a half gone in the third. Morrow hit a three as time winded down and DePaul trailed 54-52 after three.

The fourth quarter saw Holmes hit back-to-back triples followed by a Morrow field goal on the base line to put DePaul in front 60-56 and force a Villanova timeout with seven minutes remaining. The Blue Demons stretched their lead to 70-64 on a Morrow turnaround jumper with 2:51 on the ticker but wouldn't find the bottom of the basket again as Villanova used a late rally to knot the game at 70 with 22 seconds remaining before hitting the go-ahead free throw in the final second to advance to the semifinals.

The Blue Demons close the season 16-17 and 8-12 in BIG EAST play.