Women’s basketball: Aneesah Morrow’s big night propels DePaul to blowout victory over Butler

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Maddy Maes

DePaul forward Aneesah Morrow jumping to shoot the ball in DePaul’s win over Xavier on Dec. 5.

Freshman forward Aneesah Morrow led the way for DePaul on both ends of the floor as the team rolled to a 103-69 victory against Butler Friday night. The team is now 14-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play. 

The Blue Demons started the game off slow, not getting on the board until the seven minute mark thanks to Morrow’s three point jumpshot. After Morrow’s jumpshot, DePaul goes on a 6-0 run that features scoring from senior guard Sonya Morris, sophomore guard Darrione Rogers and Morrow. Morrow continued her aggressive play on the offensive end, helping DePaul hit their next five field goals before the first timeout of the game.

At the first break of the game, the team was up 15-9. DePaul was scoring well, making seven of her last nine field goals and going on a two minute, 8-0 run and 16-2 run over the remainder of the quarter. 

Defensively, the team forced nine turnovers, (seven turnovers during the 16-2 stretch), while Butler experienced a shooting drought, shooting only one for their last nine field goals before the end of the quarter. 

At the end of the first quarter, DePaul was up 25-11. Morrow led the way with nine points. Morris has eight points while junior guard Kierra Collier and Rogers have three points each. The team shot 50 percent from the field and 67 percent from the three-point line. 

Morrow picked up right where she left off in the first quarter, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter with a layup off pick and roll action with Rogers. Graduate guard Deja Church joined the party with a fastbreak layup off a Butler miss to give the team a 36-19 lead with six minutes left in the half. At the first media timeout of the second quarter, DePaul is leading 36-21. 

Coming out of the timeout, Church begins to heat up, making three-point baskets in back-to-back possessions to give DePaul a 42-26 lead with three minutes left in the game. Collier hits a three-point shot off the Church drive to extend the lead to 15 with a 49-34 lead. Morrow scored a layup in the final seconds of the half to head into halftime maintaining a 15-point lead. 

DePaul led Butler 51-36 at halftime. Morrow led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds. Church has 10 points while Collier has nine points. DePaul shot 54 percent from both the field and the 3-point line, while also having 20 fastbreak points, 22 points in the paint. Due to the team’s full court defensive pressure, the Blue Demons forced Butler into 11 turnovers and only shot 36 percent from the field. 

DePaul came out of halftime continuing to put its foot on the gas pedal offensively. Morrow made an and-one play to give the Blue Demons 54-38 with 8:30 left in the third quarter. Held followed suit with a three-point field goal and Morris followed up with a layup off Butler’s miss to extend the lead to 20 points. At the first break of the third quarter, DePaul led Butler by 17, 60-43. Coming out of the break, Collier made a 3-point shot to bring their lead back to 20 points. Rogers made a layup the following possession to push the lead to 22 points, 67-45. 

Butler was aggressive coming out of the break as well, going on a one-minute 7-0 run and hitting their next five field goals before the next break. But DePaul’s pressure forced Butler to turnover the ball and Morrow converted on a three-point play to break the 7-0 run. Morrow continued to dominate the paint, securing a 30-point double double and playing an overall game. 

DePaul had no problems putting away Butler in the second half, which included an 18-3 run and forced the Bulldogs to commit six turnovers in the last fiveminutes of the third quarter. They went into the fourth quarter with a 35-point lead. 

The fourth quarter was much more of the same. DePaul finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from the three, winning the game by 34 points.

 This is the eighth time that DePaul has scored 100-plus points in a game this season. Morrow led the way with a 33-point, 15-rebound double-double. Morris finished with 18 points. Church had 15 points while Collier and Rogers had 12 points each.

DePaul’s next game will be against Sunday, Jan. 23 at 1:00 pm CST against Xavier on CBS Sports Network.