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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

DePaul women’s basketball destroy Illinois Wesleyan 124-56

DePaul should enjoy their victory over Illinois Wesleyan, because they probably won’t play an easier game for a long time.

Every Blue Demon had at least two points by the end of the game as DePaul dominated Illinois- Wesleyan 124-56 in the Demons’ final exhibition game of the season.

Jasmine Penny had a double-double and led the scoring with 25 points on 11 for 13 shooting from the field.

“I knew I was going to come out today more focused on my shots,” she said.

The Demons opened up the game at a fast-paced tempo, racking up 12 quick points in the first two minutes to lead 12-4 at the 18-minute mark. They would add another bucket before Illinois-Wesleyan called their first timeout with 17:33 to go in the first half.

Head coach Doug Bruno was very happy with the intensity that his team came out with to start the game.

“I think the players did an impressive job to force me to take the pressure off after five minutes,” Bruno said.

DePaul didn’t let up after the timeout, firing off a 17-0 run over the next two minutes, bringing the score up to 29-4 before the Titans called their next timeout at the 15:18 mark in the first half. At this point the Blue Demons had scored 21 of their 29 points off of turnovers.

DePaul continued to separate themselves from the Titans as the half wore down, finishing the half up 69-31. Blue Demon freshman guard Jessica January led the scoring with 19 points at the half.

The Blue Demons came out firing in the second half, quickly getting a three from the corner from sophomore guard Chanise Jenkins and then adding to their lead, going up 82-38.

Illinois-Wesleyan started to use a full-court press after the timeout, trying to force the Blue Demons to slow down the offense and force some turnovers. DePaul countered by breaking the press three times in succession and hitting wide-open three pointers on three straight possessions to bring the score to 99-42 at the halfway mark of the second half.

Junior guard Megan Rogowski would break the 100-point mark with another three-pointer less than a minute later.

The Demons would continue to pile on for the rest of the half, steadily building their lead to a 70-point advantage at the end of the half. A halfcourt shot from Illinois-Wesleyan freshman guard Shelby Gray woke up the crowd as time expired, bringing the final score to 124-56 in favor of DePaul.

“This is a team that legitimately has ten players that could start on this basketball team,” Bruno said. “It might be one of those years where we start people game-to-game based on needs and matchups.”

The Blue Demons start their non-conference schedule next Friday when they host Harvard in the first game of the Maggie Dixon Classic.

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