PHILADELPHIA – Three double-digit deficits in a row proved to be too much for the DePaul women’s basketball team, as the Blue Demons fell to Duke 70-63 in the Sweet 16 on Sunday, March 27. Karima Christmas led the way for the Blue Devils with 23 points, nine rebounds and no turnovers. Jasmine Thomas added 19 and Chelsea Gray 16.
Deirdre Naughton scored a team-high 17 for the Blue Demons. 10 of those points came in the final three minutes, when DePaul fought furiously to try and mount a comeback. Sam Quigley, Felicia Chester and Keisha Hampton each had 11.
The Blue Devils crashed the boards and hammered away at the paint offensively. They scored a total of 40 points in the paint and out-rebounded DePaul 43 to 34. Nineteen of those boards came on the offensive glass for the Blue Devils. That type of play gave them a 41-28 lead heading into the locker room.
“We’re sitting at halftime chasing 13 points and we’d given up 12 points off of our offensive turnovers, and 12 points on the offensive glass,” Head Coach Doug Bruno said. “At the first media timeout, we’d already given up six points, three putbacks. That was huge in the basketball game.”
Christmas was especially active, pulling down four offensive boards, some off of her own missed shots. She was an offensive force in the game, driving to the lane almost at will and the Blue Demons could not stop her from producing.
“We had no answer for Christmas,” Bruno said. “We couldn’t guard here, and nothing we tried to do could really manage her.”
DePaul started to inch its way back into the game, and had squeezed the deficit to just three, down 63-60 with 50 seconds left. But Duke hit seven of eight free throws in that final span to seal the win and prevent the comeback.
The offense was hindered by foul trouble. As a team, DePaul picked up 23 personal fouls, leading to 29 free throw attempts for Duke. They made 21 of those.
Hampton picked up her fourth foul with 12:17 remaining, and sat on the bench until 7:51. She then picked up her fifth and final at 6:36, removing her from the game.
“That’s a part of her game that she’s fixing and has been fixing,” Bruno said, “But she’s still prone to committing fouls.”
When DePaul tried to go inside, Duke responded by swarming Chester, forcing her into five of the team’s 19 turnovers.
“The first few possessions I got the ball in the post, it was pretty clear that if I took any dribbles, I wasn’t going to get anywhere,” Chester said. “I was expecting the double after that.”
The loss ended the season for a Blue Demons team that was frequently talked about for the team’s camaraderie. They have a total of five seniors that will be gone next year.
“We were just all in there, everyone was in tears because we’re not happy with the way it ended. But it’s been an unbelievable season and career,” Naughton, a sixth-year senior, said after the game. “In a couple days I’ll look back and be happy, but right now it’s still a little hard.