After three consecutive games on the road for DePaul, the Blue Demons returned to Wintrust Arena on Saturday to face Alabama State. DePaul got off to a fast start against the Hornets and never looked back en route to a 105-76 victory. 

It took the Blue Demons a couple of minutes to score in the first quarter, but after going down 7-3 early in the quarter, DePaul rallied off 13 straight points to take a 16-7 lead. During that run, senior forward Chante Stonewall scored seven points with sophomore’s Lexi Held and Sonya Morris also grabbing a couple of points.

The Blue Demons kept building their lead throughout the first quarter, with it eventually climbing to 35-15 after junior guard Deja Church scored six straight points. DePaul scored 40 points in the first quarter, which was six points shy of breaking the program’s record for most points in a quarter, to take an 18-point lead into the second. 

With the Blue Demons grabbing control of the game, head coach Doug Bruno elected to give his younger players more playing time in the second quarter. Freshman Marisa Warren came off the bench to score eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 from the 3-point line. 

The Blue Demons took a 67-42 lead into the break, while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line. 

DePaul kept receiving contributions from their bench in third quarter with 18 of their 20 points in the quarter coming from the bench. Junior guard Deja Church led all scorers in the quarter with seven points, but she did go to the bench with an injured ankle after fighting for a rebound — she would eventually come back into the game. 

Morris, on the other hand, who also injured her ankle in the quarter, went back to the locker room and for a little bit before returning to the bench. She finished the game with five points and two assists. 

DePaul’s defense managed to force 24 turnovers in the game and turn them into 27 points on the other end. The Hornets also struggled to shoot from the 3-point line, going 3-of-18 from the behind the arc. The visitors, however, managed to tie the Blue Demons in the third quarter at 20 points apiece.

With the game in complete control for DePaul after three quarters, Bruno gave his starters the rest of game off with No. 1 UConn coming to Wintrust Arena on Monday. Stonewall finished the game with 12 points, with all of them coming in the first half, and junior starter Dee Bekelja also poured in 12 points.

The Blue Demons passed the century mark for the second straight game and third time this season, and improved to 9-1 on the season. DePaul will host No. 1 UConn on Monday at Wintrust Arena as they will look to win their eight straight game.