Women’s basketball: DePaul defeats Georgetown 102-69 to make program history

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Maddy Maes/The DePaulia

Forward Aneesah Morrow dribbles around a Georgetown player on Jan. 16.

The DePaul women’s basketball team made history on Sunday when they defeated Georgetown University 102-69 at home. This win is the team’s seventh 100-point win this season, the most in program history. 

The Blue Demons dominated from tip off. A layup from guard Sonya Morris gave the Blue Demons the first basket of the game, followed by 3-point jumpers from guard Deja Church, guard Darrione Rogers and guard Lexi Held. 

DePaul continued to add to that lead to make the score 13-0 before Georgetown scored their first basket five minutes into the quarter. 

Georgetown began to challenge in the second half of the first quarter, but strong defense and rebounding by the Blue Demons helped the team stay in control of the first quarter, which ended with a score of 30-16.

Four different Blue Demons had 3-point jumpers in the quarter, while Church went 3-for-3 and finished with 11 points. 

“During pregame, I was shooting the ball really well, so I knew I was going to have a good shooting night, not going to lie,” Church said. “But just throughout the game, just seeing my shot boosts my confidence up and I see my teammates’ shots go in. It was just for everyone because last game, we were struggling offensively as far as making shots, so I think that just helped me.”

In what seemed to be a trend, Morris opened the second quarter with a 3-point jumper. Held added to the Blue Demons’ lead with two 3-point jumpers of her own to make the score 41-20.

The Blue Demons struggled late in the second quarter while failing to make baskets and connect on baskets. At the same time, Georgetown dominated and cut down the lead to 15 points. 

However, baskets by forward Aneesah Morrow and Morris put the Blue Demons back in control of the quarter, which ended with DePaul in front 51-32. 

Morris finished the half leading with 12 points, while Morrow had eight rebounds. The defense was not as strong as it was in the first quarter, but the rebounding efforts from Morrow helped keep Georgetown from cutting the lead down even more.

Following the trend as the two quarters before, Held opens the third quarter with her three-point jumper, which is followed by a jumper from Morrow and a 3-point jumper by Church. 

Points went back and forth for the rest of the quarter, but the Blue Demons secured their lead with strong offense from their starters and strong defense from Morow, who finished the quarter with 17 points and 13 rebounds. 

Georgetown opened up the fourth quarter with their own 3-point jumper, but the Blue Demons quickly responded with a layup by Morrow. 

The team on the court was made up of players from off the bench, however, they struggled to connect and score. After calling a timeout, head coach Doug Bruno subbed back in all his starters, who added a few baskets for the Blue Demons before the players from the bench returned to the game. 

“I got very irritated in the second half today because I was calling out to the group that was on the floor and I watched five players’ backs of their heads walk away from me,” Bruno said. “And I’m not going to be on that sideline, don’t tell me you can’t hear me.”

“I had five people walk away from me and I was very irritated at five people, so you think I want to put the starters back in when we’re up 30-plus? No. But I’m not going to let five people walk away from me.”

Georgetown continued to dominate late, but two free throws by forward Kendall Holmes helped shift the momentum, and the Blue Demons hit 102 points off a three-point jumper by guard Keke Rimmer on a shot clock buzzer-beater a minute later to end the game. 

“I knew it was going in,” Morrow said regarding Rimmer’s history-making shot. “I was super excited.”

Morrow finished the game leading in points with 23 and rebounds with 14, and had her 10th-consecutive double-double. Morrow played an aggressive game overall and played a big role in keeping Georgetown from catching up to DePaul’s lead. 

“I feel like I could have gotten more rebounds than I did,” Morrow said. “But I’m happy about it.”

The Blue Demons look to continue their Big East success next Friday against Butler University before taking on Xavier University on Sunday.