Fresh off a loss to No. 5/4 Baylor in Waco, Tex., the No. 20 DePaul women’s basketball team (4-1) returned home to face Chicago State (0-5), kicking off a four game home stand. The Blue Demons won in convincing fashion 88-42 in front of a good crowd at McGrath-Phillips Arena two days before Thanksgiving.

“I thought our players really played and got after it,” coach Doug Bruno said. “We weren’t perfect in any stretch, but I thought we cleaned things up on the fly and we’re just working to get better.”

Megan Podkowa and Jessica January led the Blue Demons from the opening tip-off. Podkowa finished with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists. She matched her season-high points total that she set in the loss to Baylor.

January completed a double-double at the end of the third quarter scoring 14 points and dishing out 10 assists, along with six rebounds and two steals. The 10 assists were a career-high for the junior guard.

“We were trying to focus on getting off to a quick and efficient start,” January said. “My teammates did a really good job just running the floor and it made it easy for me to get the ball to them.”

Sophomore guard Lauren Prochaska really stole the show late, though. Spelling Jenkins or January throughout the first three quarters, the fourth quarter she took over as point guard while the other two rested on the bench. Prochaska looked calm and collected with the ball and her coach noticed.

“I thought she was a great lesson for our starters on the bench, teaching moments come in all shapes and sizes,” Bruno said. “Our players on the bench got to watch Lauren Prochaska do all of the little things between the touches that we’re trying to get the starters to do.”

“Sometimes when you have players who don’t play a lot, it’s nice to be able to reward them and give them a game ball,” he said. “If we gave game balls, Prochaska would’ve gotten the game ball.”

Despite blowing out their opposition, Bruno praised Chicago State’s coach and applauded the job she does year after year with the program.

“Angela Jackson is one of the best coaches in college basketball and she does a magnificent job at Chicago State,” Bruno said. “It’s a really tough place for her to recruit and the kids she gets, she just does a really good job.”

The big win was important for DePaul coming off a tough road loss to Baylor. They’ll look to continue this against Colgate on Black Friday.

“We’re a really good basketball team and we can be really good,” Bruno said. “I’ll leave it at that, let’s just prove it on the floor.”