At first glance, Indiana shooting 55 percent made it appear as if DePaul women’s basketball played poor defense.

But after forcing 23 turnovers, it was defense that proved to be the difference. The No. 19 Blue Demons attempted 24 more shots than the Hoosiers and were able to turn a slow start into another stylish victory Thursday as DePaul beat Indiana, 84-69.

With the win, the Blue Demons improved to 3-0 and advanced to the final round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

“What a fantastic team DePaul has,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said in a press release. ““The pressure they put on us defensively sped us up and made us play faster than we would have liked. That led to our 23 turnovers.”

DePaul initially struggled against the Hoosier’s exploiting a size advantage in the post. Indiana fed power forward Amanda Cahill in the post and creating open jump shots with a drive and kick attack led by Tyra Buss. The Blue Demons’ Chanise Jenkins got in foul trouble early, allowing Buss to carry the Hoosiers offensively by finding open cutters and forcing the Blue Demons into early mistakes offensively.

In the second quarter, DePaul forward Megan Podkawa took a hand to the face on incidental contact that took her out of the game for most of the second. With the Blue Demons’ best post player spending time with the trainers instead of on the court, the Hoosiers looked to attack inside and force backup center Brandi Harvey-Carr to protect the paint against the Hoosiers quick guards and well positioned post players.

The first half was a seesaw battle but when Podkowa returned, the Blue Demons were able to establish momentum behind Ashton Millender’s three 3-pointers.  

With Jenkins in foul trouble the Blue Demons looked to Jessica January for an offensive spark plug. She was stifled, however, by the tenacious defense of Tyra Buss who was not only able to stay with the DePaul star wing but also break through the Blue Demons signature full court press to create transition buckets for the Hoosiers who trailed 42-39 going into halftime.

“Indiana does a great job of not letting you get to the paint,” said DePaul coach Doug Bruno. “We ended up taking 34 three-pointers (making 11) because that’s what Indiana was giving us.”

While the Blue Demons held the lead by a narrow margin, it was clear that they needed to limit their turnovers and find a way to solve the problems the Hoosiers size advantage had created for them.

Bruno and the coaching staff responded by giving junior Brooke Schulte extended minutes as a stretch four in order to keep the bigger Hoosiers out of the paint in order to create better spacing as well as take away their edge in rebounding.

Schulte finished with 13 points and three rebounds. Millender led the Blue Demons with 15 points.

“Any player on our team is capable of stepping up and having a big game,” Schulte said. “Ashton stepped up her game tonight and Lauren Prochaska played some great defense.

“I was taking shots that I was comfortable with tonight and having more of a scorer’s mentality.”

The second half looked like a different game entirely as the Blue Demons forced the Hoosiers into turnovers early and often going on a 12-4 run to extend lead to 12. Coming into the game averaging 18.5 points per game, Tyra Buss looked to take matters into her own hands by becoming more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor. Driving to the basket, Buss went up for a layup and came down hard her dominant left wrist. Although Buss would have her wrist wrapped and come back into the game, the Hoosiers star player was noticeably bothered by her injured shooting hand.

Smelling blood in the water, the Blue Demons took a 64-52 lead off a Podkowa floater at the buzzer to end the third.

In the fourth, the Blue Demons sprinted to the finish line, boxing out at every opportunity, finding the open women with fluid ball movement, and dominating the momentum, expanding their lead to 20 points four minutes into the final period of play.

DePaul finished the game by forcing the Hoosiers out of their slow paced game plan and into the scrappy high octane transition basketball that Lincoln Park has come to know as “DePaul Ball”.
The Blue Demons next game will be played against the Baylor Bears for the NWIT title Sunday at a location to be determined.