DE PAUL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2020-21 GAME NOTES 27, 20-WIN SEASONS | 24 NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES | .848 WINNING PERCENTAGE AT McGRATH-PHILLIPS ARENA 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON TITLE | 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 BIG EAST TOURNAMENT TITLE 2020-21 SCHEDULE GAME: 4 DePaul Blue Demons Date Opponent Time (CST) DATE: Dec. 13, 2020 AP: 24| Coaches Poll: 23 NOVEMBER 2020-21 Overall Record: 1-2 TIME: 3:00 p.m. (CT) BIG EAST: 0-0 28 No. 13/14 Texas A&M L, 93-91 HOME GAME: 3 30 Chicago State W, 128-66 ARENA: Wintrust Arena LOCATION: Chicago, Ill. DECEMBER Video: DePaul All-Access Loyola Ramblers 4 vs. No. 5/5Louisville** (ESPN) AP Poll: N/A| Coaches Poll: N/A LIVE STATS: DePaulBlueDemons.com 2020-21 Overall Record: 1-0 L, 116-75 TWITTER: @depaulathletics MVC: 0-0 6 Xavier* (BEDN) Postponed HASHTAGS: #depaulball 13 Loyola 3 p.m. 16 No. 11/12 Kentucky 2 p.m. 19 Georgetown* (BEDN) 2 p.m. CHICAGO – After an eight-day break, No. 24/23 DEPAUL/LOYOLA DePaul is anxious to hit the court running Sun- SERIES INFORMATION 22 at Creighton* (FS1) 8 p.m. day in the 53rd renewal of the aptly named “Red Series: DePaul leads series 41-11 Line Rivalry.” Home ................................................................... 21-4 (Remainder of Schedule TBA) Away .................................................................... 19-7 The Blue Demons will be looking to win their Neutral................................................................... 1-0 *BIG EAST Conference game fifth in a row against North Side rival Loyola and Streak ....................................................................W4 Last 10 meetings **Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn. 26th of the last 27. Coach Doug Bruno’s program Home games at Wintrust Arena Date Location Outcome Score rode a 21-game winning streak against the Dec. 9, 2010 A W 80-48 Ramblers that spanned three decades (1994 to Dec. 3, 2011 H W 70-65 2014). Dec. 18, 2012 A W 87-69 Dec. 7, 2013 H W 93-55 DePaul leads 41-11 in a series that began back Dec. 17, 2014 A W 109-84 on Feb. 23, 1976 with a 73-24 Blue Demon victo- Dec. 21, 2015 H L 88-75 DePaul 2020-21 Accolades ry. The largest margin of victory was recorded on Dec. 18, 2016 A W 107-46 Feb. 4, 1978 with DePaul’s 88-26 win. Loyola’s Dec. 4, 2017 H W 88-47 Team Dec. 20, 2018 A W 102-76 No. 2 in BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll last success was an 88-75 upset in 2015. Dec. 20, 2019 A W 83-76 No. 24 in Associated Press Top 25 Sunday’s game with a 3 p.m. tipoff at Wintrust No. 23 in USA Today/Coaches Poll Arena will be shown on DePaul All-Access with No. 19 in ESPN Preseason Top 25 Matt Rodewald providing the play-by-play and No. 21 in Lindy's Magazine Preseason Poll Daily Herald sportswriter Trish Babcock McGraw TEAM COMPARISON No. 24 in CBS Preseason Top 25 handling the analyst duties. DePaul Loyola 1-2 Overall Record 1-0 Bruno & Co. are off to a 1-2 start with both set- 0-0 Conference Record 0-0 Individual backs coming to nationally ranked powers---No. 98 Scoring Offense 70 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team 2/2 Louisville and No. 10/10 Texas A&M. Bolting 91.7 Scoring Defense 57 Lexi Held out of the starting gate while experiencing 36 Rebounds/Game 36 46 Opp. Rebounds/Game 31 Sonya Morris somewhat of a senior awakening is previously unheralded guard Dee Bekelja. .444 FG % .462 .538 Opp. FG % .397 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List .356 3-pt. FG % .375 It’s not uncommon in collegiate sports for .419 Opp. 3-pt. FG % .267 Sonya Morris something to click within a talented student-ath- 10.7 3-pt. FG’s/Game 6 lete during the “gun lap” of his or her four-year 4.3 Opp. 3-pt. FG’s/Game 4 Citizen Naismith Trophy Watch List career. Playing through a global pandemic has .676 FT % .842 Lexi Held moved the NCAA to allow for an extra year of 19 Assists/Game 16 eligibility for seniors such as Bekelja along with 11.7 Steals/Game 7 teammates Deja Church and Kiara Dallmann. 2 Blocked Shots/Game 2 14 Turnovers/Game 16 1.4 Assist/Turnover Ratio 1.0 Bekelja leads her team averaging 19 points a game which is fifth in the BIG EAST Conference. PLAYER COMPARISON She also tops the Blue Demons in rebounding DePaul Loyola (4.7 a game), field goal percentage (.524) and Bekelja (19) Scorer Tanin (16) total three-pointers with seven. She is second in Bekelja (.524) FG % Tanin (.714) three-point percentage and steals. Bekelja (7-16) 3-pt FG Brown (4-8) Holmes (.545) 3-pt % Rice (.667) After averaging 7.8 points last season, Bekelja Bekelja (.750) FT % Chandler (1.000) has upped her scoring by more than 11 points a Bekelja (4.7) Rebs PG Rice (10) Held/Morris (2.7) Assists PG Rice (5) game. If this keeps up, she will be a prime can- Held (8) Steals Tanin (3) didate for the BIG EAST Most Improved Player Six tied with (1) Blocks Tanin/Meyer (1) Award won by Sonya Morris last season. GAME 4: LOYOLA DEPAUL STORY LINES CHECK THE RECORD DEPAUL BY THE NUMBERS • DePaul earned an automatic berth in the 2020 NCAA tourna- All-time ..................................917-472 BIG EAST Conference Tournament ment for after winning its fifth BIG EAST Tournament crown in All-time in November ..............112-37 5 Titles (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, the2last seven years. All-time in December .........194-103 2020) • The women's program claimed its first conference three-peat All-time in January .............256-143 BIG EAST Conference Regular title since winning a North Star title and back-to-back Great Mid- All-time in February ...........249-112 6 Season Titles (2014-18, 20) All-time in March .................106-77 west titles 1990-93. All-time on Sunday ..................166-88 DePaul’s ranking in the 2014-15 • Under coach Doug Bruno, the Blue Demons have won 20 or WBCA Team Academic GPA Top 25 All-time on Monday ...............91-34 3 more in 24 seasons including the last 13 in a row and 17 of 18. All-time on Tuesday................81-50 Cumulative team GPA in 2019-20, No. From 2013-14 to 2019-20, DePaul is 192-53 for a .783 winning All-time on Wednesday ..........78-56 3.616 1 among BIG EAST WBB teams percentage All-time on Thursday ..............79-44 Sweet Sixteen Appearances -- 2006, • DePaul faces another tough schedule this season with games All-time on Friday .................193-82 2011, 2014, 2016 All-time on Saturday ..........216-110 4 against nationally ranked Texas A&M, Louisville, Kentucky and All-time home ........................536-133 season opponents who made the Connecticut. McGrath-Phillips Arena ........245-44 5 2019 NCAA Tournament • Bruno's team will play regular-season games at Wintrust Arena Alumni Hall ...........................242-80 highest Associated Press ranking while navigating around a global pandemic. Wintrust Arena .........................21-5 7 (Feb. 21, 2011) • The emphasis on strong guard play will be evident this season as Allstate Arena ...........................28-5 All-time road ..........................306-275 Teams including DePaul to compete the Blue Demons have nine backcourt players on their roster. All-time neutral floor .................76-61 5 in last 17 NCAA Tournaments • Keke Rimmer (Proviso East), Kayla Caudle (Vernon Hills), highest USA Today/ESPN Coaches Nadège Jean (Rich South), Darrione Rogers (Lake Park West) and YEAR-BY-YEAR AT 9 ranking (Jan. 16, 2006 & April 7, 2011) Kendall Holmes (Benet) are Chicago-area products. MCGRATH-PHILLIPS consecutive NCAA tournament • The Blue Demons will be integrating four new players into the Year Rec. Pct. appearances program---two freshmen and two transfers. 2000-01 12-2 .857 17 2001-02 9-5 .643 200 or more 3-pointers in 19 of the 2002-03 13-0 1.000 19 last 21 seasons Milestones: Church is just 115 points shy of the 1,000-point ca- 2003-04 12-1 .923 Number of Blue Demons drafted by reer milestone. After scoring 494 points last season, Lexi Held is 2004-05 14-0 1.000 2005-06 14-1 .933 15 the WNBA closing in on the coveted 1K plateau and needs 189 this season while fellow junior Sonya Morris needs 270. 2006-07 10-2 .833 NCAA Tournament appearances 2007-08 9-6 .600 24 since 1990 2008-09 13-2 .866 17 Straight NCAA Appearances: DePaul is one of just five teams seasons with at least 20 or more 2009-10 12-2 .857 to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the last 17 seasons… 2010-11 17-0 1.000 victories including the last 12 28 joining DePaul on this distinguished list are Connecticut, Notre 2011-12 13-2 .866 2012-13 15-2 .888 average number of victories since Dame, Stanford and Tennessee… the 17-straight appearances is 2013-14 13-2 .857 a program record for consecutive NCAAs... DePaul earned four 27 2013-14 to 2019-20 2014-15 12-4 .750 consecutive NCAA berths from 1990-93 followed by a three-year 2015-16 14-5 .737 Season of Doug Bruno being the run from 1995-97. 2016-17 13-2 .867 35th head coach at DePaul 2017-18 8-2 .800 Number of DePaul players to score 2018-19 9-3 .750 Sweet 16: DePaul made the program’s fourth trip to the NCAA 2019-20 10-0 1.000 1,000 points in their career 39 Sweet 16 in 2016… DePaul has reached the Sweet 16 in 2016, Totals 245-44 .848 Doug Bruno’s win total with the 2014, 2011 and 2006.