Blue Demons Open BIG EAST Play Against Butler

CHICAGO – DePaul women's basketball opens the BIG EAST portion of its schedule on Saturday, Dec. 21 when Butler visits Wintrust Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT with live coverage carried on FloCollege.

Single-game tickets for Saturday's matchup are available here.

Demon Doings
DePaul steps into conference play 5-8 on the season after enduring a non-conference schedule that ranks 16th-nationally. The Blue Demons are coming off a 76-64 victory over Southern on Tuesday evening in which three players finished with 17 or more points led by Jorie Allen's 23-point outing.

Allen leads DePaul in scoring with 19.3 points per game which ranks third in the BIG EAST and top-35 nationally. The graduate forward has reached double figures in all 13 games this season and has eclipsed the 20-point mark on six occasions.

Redshirt-junior Meg Newman tallied a career-best 17 points against Southern in addition to grabbing seven rebounds, to surpass 100 points and 100 rebounds on the season. Newman's 7.7 rebounds per game is fourth in the BIG EAST.

Taylor Johnson-Matthews is averaging 12.6 points per game and leads DePaul in three-point field goals after a career-best five triples last time out.

DePaul has been sharing the ball extremely well as of late, dishing out 17 or more assists in five of its last six games. The Blue Demons have three games of 20 or more helpers including two of the last three contests.

Butler Notes
The Bulldogs went 10-3 in the non-conference schedule with its trio of losses coming to Vanderbilt, then-No. 5 Texas and Wisconsin. Butler picked up a signature win over Indiana in mid-November and most recently earned a 95-38 win over Saint Francis on Dec. 15.

Graduate guard Carolina Strande leads Butler with 14.3 points per game while knocking down 37-percent of her three-point attempts. Belmont transfer Kilyn McGuff is second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg) and first in rebounding (7.7 rpg).

As a team, Butler gets to the free-throw line more than anyone else in the BIG EAST averaging 20.9 attempts per game while making 14.2. The Bulldogs bench is providing the most production of any of the 11 conference teams with 28.3 points per game.

Austin Parkinson and the Bulldogs were picked to finish eighth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll just ahead of DePaul.

Series Stuff
The Blue Demons lead the all-time series with Butler 25-2 and have won five of the last six meetings.

A season ago, the teams split the seasons series with each program picking up a win on the road. The last time the two sides faced off, the Bulldogs eked out a 73-70 victory in Chicago on Feb. 28, 2024.

League Lid Lifters
DePaul is 15-4 (.789) in BIG EAST openers since joining the conference prior to the 2005-06 season. The Blue Demons have won their first game in league play five seasons in a row with two of those matchups coming against Butler.

Up Next
The Blue Demons will break for the holidays before returning to competition on Sunday, Dec. 29 when Marquette travels to Wintrust Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network/Flo Sports.

TICKET INFORMATION
Season Tickets for the 2024-25 women's basketball season at Wintrust Arena start at $95. Secure your seats today at www.DePaulBlueDemons.com/tickets and commit to DePaul Women's Basketball!

Mobile Passes, Group Outings, Suite Rentals and Single-Game Tickets are on sale now. Fans can stay up-to-date on special ticket offers by signing upfor email or text updates from DePaul Athletics.

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Blue Demons Open BIG EAST Play Against Butler

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Players Mentioned

Jorie Allen

Taylor Johnson-Matthews

Meg Newman

DePaul University Athletics