Women’s basketball: DePaul’s senior night spoiled by loss to Seton Hall

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Donald Crocker

DePaul senior guard Sonya Morris had 28 points in the team’s loss to Seton Hall on Senior Night on Feb. 25.

The DePaul women’s basketball team played their last regular game of the season at Wintrust on Friday night when the Blue Demons took on Seton Hall. However, the team’s senior night was spoiled when the Blue Demons fell to the Pirates 94-90.

The graduating seniors, guard Dee Bekelja, Deja Church, Lexi Held and Sonya Morris, were honored after the game for their time as Blue Demons.

“I’ve just been able to see myself and the rest of the seniors grow since my freshman year,” Morris said. “We’re just so talented and bring so much to the table other than just scoring. We bring energy, we bring positivity, fun, goofiness, we just love being around each other.”

Morris opened up the scoring in the game with a jumper that Seton Hall immediately answered before the Pirates scored twice to take an early lead.

Freshman forward Aneesah Morrow challenged with a layup, but a second-chance jumper by the Pirates kept the deficit at four.

A jumper by Morris put DePaul within two points again before a layup by Morris tied the game at ten halfway through the first quarter.

However, Seton Hall responded to the efforts by the Blue Demons with a layup and 3-point jumper to take a five point lead but Morris countered with a 3-point jumper of her own to cut the deficit to two again.

A 3-point shot by Morrow gives the Blue Demons their first lead since the first basket of the game before adding to that with a layup. Seton Hall countered with a jumper but Morris scored a jumper of her own to keep the three-point lead.

A layup by Seton Hall cut the lead to one. After, the Pirates took the lead and pulled ahead with two layups to finish the first quarter with a 23-20 lead over the Blue Demons. Morris led with 11 points, followed by Morrow with nine points and four rebounds.

Junior guard Kierra Collier opened the second quarter with a layup to pull the Blue Demons within one but two free throws by the Pirates gave them a three-point lead again.

However, the Blue Demons took the lead off 3-point baskets by Held and Morris before a second-chance layup and a 3-point basket by Church gave DePaul an eight-point lead before Seton Hall scored their first basket in nearly three minutes.

Collier scored a 3-point jumper, but Seton Hall answered with a 3-point shot of their own. However, sophomore guard Darrione Rogers made a 3-point basket of her own to give the Blue Demons a nine-point lead, which DePaul added to with two free throws by Held to make the score 41-30.

Seton Hall responded with a driving layup and a 3-point basket to cut their deficit to four. The Pirates then closed out the second quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-point basket to pull within one point of the Blue Demons and make the score 44-43.

Morris led the Blue Demons with 14 points in the first half, while Morrow had nine and Collier had eight. Morrow led with eight rebounds.

Rogers opened the scoring in the third quarter with a second-chance layup, but Seton Hall responded immediately with a turnaround jumper. A free throw by Morrow gave the Blue Demons a two-point lead but the Pirates took the lead with two 3-point jumpers.

Points went back and forth, with Held and Rogers sinking 3-point baskets that the Pirates responded to immediately. However, the Blue Demons pulled within a point of Seton Hall after a 3-point jumper by Morris made the score 64-63.

The Blue Demons took the lead off a 3-point shot by Rogers before Seton Hall took it back. DePaul regained the lead with a layup by Morris but a layup and a 3-point shot by the Pirates gave them the lead again.

The mix of inconsistent scoring and defense led to the end of the third quarter finished with the Pirates leading 72-68.

A layup by Church opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, but Seton Hall responded to extend their lead to nine. A 3-point shot by Collier cut the deficit to six points, but the Pirates responded to add to their lead.

The Pirates continued to pull ahead as the Blue Demons struggled with fouling. Two free throws by Morrow, a 3-point shot by Morris and a layup by Chuch pulled DePaul within two points of the Pirates to make the score 86-84.

Seton Hall responded with baskets of their own, but a layup by Collier cut the lead to two again. Free throws by the Pirates extended their lead to six to finish off the game.

Morris finished with 28 points, while Morrow followed with 16 points and Collier had 13.

“Coach always talks about being anxious over the execution versus being anxious over the result,” Morrow said. “You can’t be like, ‘oh, we’ve got to move, we’ve got to win,’ and not take care of business with each possession, so that’s basically what consistency comes down to, is just being locked in and focused on every possession, every detail.”

Consistency is something that the team has struggled with all season, and as the regular season winds down, it is something that the team plans to focus on as they get ready for the Big East Tournament.

“I don’t know if we’ve found offensive or defensive rhythm all year,” head coach Doug Bruno said. “We’ve had moments but never consistency.”

The Blue Demons take on Creighton on Sunday for their last game of the regular season. The team then travels to Connecticut for the Big East Tournament, which begins on Mar. 4.