Women’s basketball: Morrow and Morris dazzle for DePaul in victory over Xavier

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Maddy Maes

DePaul women’s basketball forward Aneesah Morrow jumping to make a shot against Xavier on Dec. 5

While the rest of the DePaul women’s basketball team was competing against Xavier University on Sunday, Sonya Morris and Aneesah Morrow were battling each other for the team lead in points. Together, the two combined for 59 points to help push the Blue Demons to a 94-74 victory.

Morrow finished with 32 points and 15 rebounds, earning her a 12th-straight double-double, while Morris finished with 27 points.

The Blue Demons entered the game coming off a 103-69 win over Butler University on Friday, in which Morrow had a 33-point performance.

Points were going back and forth from tip off in the first quarter. DePaul opened the scoring with a jumper and free throw by Morrow, but Xavier responded immediately.

A jumper by Morris added to DePaul’s lead, but Xavier took the lead and pulled ahead. Morrow tied the game with a layup, but Xavier ran away with the lead and forced the Blue Demons to catch up.

Layups by Morrow pulled DePaul within two points of Xavier, tied the game and then took the lead to make the score 15-13.

The Blue Demons extended their lead with free throws by Deja Church and a layup by Morrow, but Xavier soon caught up and tied the game at 19 points.

However, late baskets by Kierra Collier and Morris gave DePaul a four-point lead to finish the first quarter. Morrow ended with 13 points and five rebounds, while Morris followed with six points.

Morris opened up the second quarter with a jumper, followed by a layup by Morrow and a jumper by Darrione Rogers to give DePaul a 10-point lead over Xavier, who was stuck at 19 points.

The Blue Demons were struggling with 3-point shots, something that typically comes easily to the team, until Lexi Held sank their first halfway through the second half.

However, after Held opened that area of scoring, Rogers made a 3-point jumper of her own to give DePaul an 18-point lead.

The Blue Demons reached the 50-point mark with two free throws by Morrow, who hit 21 points off those two baskets. Collier extended the lead with a 3-point jumper, and while Xavier closed out the half with a buzzer-beating 3-point jumper, the Blue Demons finished leading 53-37.

Morrow closed out the half with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Morris had 12 points.

Xavier opened the scoring in the second half, but Morris responded right back with a jumper. Rogers added to DePaul’s lead with a 3-point jumper, while Morrow knocked in a layup to make the score 62-43.

Xavier began to pick up speed halfway through the third quarter, while the Blue Demons struggled with turnovers and scoring. Xavier went on a 9-0 run before Morris made a 3-point jumper to break DePaul’s point drought.

While the Blue Demons continued to hold on to their lead, there was a shift in their offensive production. Baskets that were going in smoothly in the first half fell short or bounced off the rim in the second half.

After nearly three minutes without a basket last in the third quarter, Morris made a layup to give her 23 points, tying her with Morrow for the team lead in the game. She extended that point total to 25 with a layup to give her the team lead.

However, Xavier outscored DePaul 23-20 in the third quarter, and pulled within 13 points of the DePaul lead to make the score 73-60 at the end the third quarter.

Morrow opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a free throw, followed soon after by a layup, which gave Morrow 26 points in the game. That point total, combined with her 10 rebounds, earned Morrow her 12th-straight double-double and her 15th on the season.

The final minute of the fourth quarter was all Xavier, but the efforts of the Blue Demons secured a 20-point lead for DePaul as the game came to an end.

Rogers finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Collier had 12 points off the bench.

With the victory, the Blue Demons go to 16-4 overall and 8-1 in Big East play. The team returns home on Friday to take on St. John’s University and celebrate Alumni Day.