Uconn’s firepower too much as DePaul takes brutal 84-60 road loss

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Connecticut’s Christyn Williams (13) shoots over DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow (24) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

It was a rough outing for DePaul as the Blue Demons lost to conference rival UConn 84-60. The loss puts the team 19-7 overall and 11-4 in conference play.

DePaul gets off to a slow start, but freshman forward Aneesah Morrow helps DePaul get on board with a three-point shot. On the next possession, graduate guard Deja Church drew a foul coming down the lane that led to two key free throws, giving the team it’s first lead of the game, 5-4. But UConn goes on an 8-0 run for the next two minutes, while DePaul goes on a scoring drought, going 0-5 on field goals during the two minute stretch.

Junior guard Kierra Collier breaks the scoring drought and scores on a reverse layup, while Morrow scores a transition layup to get DePaul back in the game, only down by one. Morrow uses her quickness to score the layup of a spin move from the low post and Collier hits the first three point shot of the game to tie the game at 14.

UConn did not make it easy for DePaul to score offensively. Midway through the quarter, DePaul shot 11 percent from the field and 14 percent from the three. UConn continued to apply offensive pressure on DePaul’s defense, going on a 11-0 run to end the quarter strong and expand DePaul’s deficit.

Held hit the buzzer-beating jump shot from the left elbow, but DePaul finished the first quarter down by nine, 25-16. The team shot 28 percent overall from the field and 17 percent from the 3-point line. Morrow led the way with seven points, while Collier had five points. Held and Church both had two points each.

The offensive woes carried into the second quarter, but Rogers tried to give the team some life, hitting a step back three point jumpshot to cut their deficit to nine, 28-19. Held drew the foul on the next possession, hitting two free throws to cut the lead to seven, 28-21. Morrow completes the “And-1” play, scoring off Roger’s miss to bring DePaul to an eight point deficit, 24-32. Church drove the baseline and beat the zone with a reverse layup, cutting UConn’s lead to six, 26-32. As DePaul inched closer to closing the deficit, the team committed five turnovers over the next four and a half minutes and did not score during that period. UConn takes over, going on a 7-0 run during Depaul’s scoreless stretch, until Church hits a three point shot to stop the dry spell from the field. The team hit only one of their last eight field goals over the last six minutes of the quarter.

DePaul was down 29-42 at halftime. The team shot 29 percent from the field and 24 percent from the 3-point line while also committing eight turnovers. Morrow led the way with an early 10 point, 10 rebound double-double. Her double-double gives her 18 consecutive double-doubles and 21 double-doubles on the season. Church had seven points. Collier had five points. Held had four points and Roges had three points.

The second half was not much different from the first. Morrow started the second half by grabbing the offensive rebound and scored off the Held miss to get DePaul on the board. Next, Church drove down the lane scoring a layup, trying to keep the game close. Sophomore guard Kendall Holmes hits a timely three point shot and Morrow scores on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 14 points.

Church follows up with a layup, hitting four of their last five field goals to maintain the 14 point deficit. Rogers throws an assist to Church to stop a 7-0 UConn run, and Church follows up with a jump shot to cut the deficit to 19. In the next possessions, Church switches roles from being a scorer to a facilitator, giving the assist to Morrow for the easy layup to keep the game competitive. Rogers hit the big three before the end of the third quarter, but DePaul was still down by 20 points. 69-49.

The fourth quarter was the icing on the cake for UConn. DePaul continued to fight, thanks to Holmes drawing the foul and scoring the layup. Later on, Morrow scores off the post and Held hits her only three point shot of the game. But DePaul went on another scoring drought, hitting one of their last seven field goals and UConn was too much offensively as the team rolled through the Blue Demons, handing them a 24-point loss.

The Blue Demons shot 33 percent from the field and 23 percent from the 3-point line, while committing 14 turnovers. Morrow finished the game with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Church had 17 points. Held scored seven points, while Rogers had six points and both Holmes and Collier had five points.

The Blue Demons play Georgetown next on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. in Washington D.C.