UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Scratched and clawed might be an understatement for what the Blue Demons women’s basketball team did Monday night against the Penn State Lady Lions. Trailing by 14 points with 18:20 left in the game, the Blue Demons rallied for a 75-73 victory thanks to 26 points from Keisha Hampton, two of which came at the free throw line with 4.9 seconds remaining.
Felicia Chester added 16 points on 7-10 shooting and provided a strong offensive post presence all game long in the victory. Alex Bentley led the Lady Lions with 21 points, while Julia Trogele chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
With 20 seconds remaining and the game tied at 73, Hampton got the ball on the offensive end. With 4.9 seconds left, she put up a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc. The shot missed, but she drew the shooting foul from Alex Bentley, sending her to the line for three free throws to the ire of the Penn State crowd.
“Just, I can’t let our season end like this, we’ve worked too hard for this,” Hampton said she was thinking at the line. “I just took my time, shot the free throws and made them. I just didn’t want our season to end like that.”
Bentley, who looked on in disbelief as the foul call was made, said after the game that due to her competitiveness, “obviously” the last play is what she was thinking about.
“The call was made and you can’t go back and change it,” she said when asked if she felt she only hit ball on the foul call.
Hampton went on to make two of three at the line to put DePaul ahead 75-73, then played press defense on the ensuing inbounds pass that trapped Penn State in their own end. The best the Lady Lions could get off was a long 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.
Hampton scored 19 points in the second half after getting only seven on 1-6 shooting in the first half, but getting to the foul line six times as well. A slow start by the entire team had the Blue Demons looking all but dead. The team shot 10-36 (27.8 percent) in the first half and trailed Penn State by nine heading into halftime. Seven quick points by the dynamic Bentley to start the second half put the Lady Lions up 45-31.
“The first four minutes of the half, they just came out and buried us, burned us,” Head Coach Doug Bruno said. “And then we just started to chip away. It’s boring rhetoric, but just chipping a couple points a timeout, and that’s what we were trying to do.”
Hampton hit a jumper in the paint with 6:41 left to bring DePaul within one, 61-60. 77 seconds later, with 5:24 remaining, a basket by Bentley made the score 67-60. The last 15 minutes of the game proved to be a test of resilience, as the Blue Demons would repeatedly cut the lead to a basket, only to see Penn State go on a run and cushion the score difference.
“Every time we made a point, they would come and score on us,” Chester said. “It was really back and forth. The whole game was a fight.”
Penn State had a chance to go ahead in the final 40 seconds, after a bucket by China Threatt made it 73-73. Bentley took the ball down the court for Penn State and found Trogele open on the baseline for an eight footer. But Trogele’s shot bounced off the rim and point guard Sam Quigley grabbed the defensive rebound to secure DePaul the final shot.
“I obviously missed the shot and put the ball in their best player’s [Hampton’s] hands,” Trogele said after the game while tearing up. “She came off the screen and attacked. I don’t know whether it was a foul or not, but I don’t think it comes down to one play.”
Offensive rebounds hurt Penn State the entire game. They allowed DePaul to pull down 22, leading to a total of 20 second chance points.
“It killed us,” Penn State Head Coach Coquese Washington said of the offensive boards. “You know we talked about doing a better job on the boards; they got some big second chance opportunities in the second half. I felt like they had second chance opportunities and made the most of it. We needed to do a better job on the defensive boards.”
The team also shut down two of Penn State’s more dangerous scoring options: Guard Maggie Lucas, who was averaging 16 points per game coming into tonight’s matchup, and the Chicago-born Zhaque Gray. Lucas finished the game at 1-11 while Gray ended at 0-5. Combined they scored a total of nine points.
“Sam Quigley didn’t have a great scoring night, but I think that’s as tough as I’ve seen Penn State’s Maggie Lucas guarded all year after watching all those tapes,” Bruno said. “She still threw one in and almost beat us. That’s how tough Lucas is.”
The victory gave DePaul its second Sweet 16 berth in school history. They will travel to Philadelphia this weekend to play two-seed Duke, who beat Marist 71-66 tonight.
But for now, the team can enjoy a hard-fought victory.
“Whenever a game like this is won, it’s credited to your players and the way they stepped up,” Bruno said. “We’re very resilient in the face of adversity of playing a very good team from Penn State.I’m proud of the DePaul team for not letting themselves succumb and give up under the duress and pressure given by a great crowd at Penn State.
“I’m really excited for these players.”
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If you want more info from DePaul’s victory, including the unsung hero of the night and what offensive set the team had lots of success with, make sure you check out tonight’s blog post by clicking here.