The first time DePaul women’s basketball faced Creighton, it was the McKenzie Fujan show.
Fujan, who was averaging 9.4 points prior to that game, scored 38 points and rallied Creighton in the second half to upset DePaul. The Blue Demons had led by as many as 15 in the fist half before the Blue Jays came away with a 86-78 win.
On Sunday at McGrath-Phillips Arena, Creighton again went on another second-half run to cut DePaul’s 15-point lead to five. For a moment, the game looked like it was going to be eerily similar to the first meeting.
It wasn’t. DePaul regrouped and brought their lead to double-digits late in the second half.
Jasmine Penny scored 21 points and Megan Rogowski added another 16 as DePaul came away with an 80-66 victory, avenging an earlier season loss. The win was the team’s eighth victory in a row.
“It’s the time of the year where teams are fighting for separation in the Big East.” head coach Doug Bruno said. “I think it was important for our players to show we can play with the Creighton program.”
Four Blue Demons finished with double figures. Besides Penny and Rogowski, Brittany Hrynko scored 11 points and Jessica January scored 10 points off the bench.
Creighton was held to 36 percent shooting (24-66) and was outrebounded 47-35. The Blue Jays were held to 29 percent (6-21) from beyond the arc, including going 0-10 in the first.
In the first half, the two teams were evenly matched as the score was tied at 16 with just under ten minutes to go. However, DePaul (19-5, 10-2) went on a big run near the end of the first half to put themselves up 38-21 at halftime. The Blue Demons outscored Creighton 22-5 over seven minutes.
Penny was key during that stretch with 13 of her 21 points coming in the first half. Finding Penny was Chanise Jenkins, who finished with nine points, six assists and eight rebounds.
“We did a very good job of buckling down on defense and not letting them getting second-chance shots,” Jenkins said. “When you play good defense, it rubs down on your offense and we did a good job of passing the ball around and finding open shots.”
Creighton (14-10, 8-4) would answer back after halftime The Blue Jays went on a 17-6 run in the second, trailing 54-49 with 9:18 left.
Fujan again led Creighton with 18 points. She did find help from her teammates as Creighton’s leading scorer Marissa Janning scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half. Sarah Nelson also finished with 14 points.
Knowing they needed another defensive stop, Centrese McGee came up big when she intercepted a pass and took it all the way to the other end for a layup.
McGee’s layup was part of a 12-0 to put DePaul into another commanding lead.
“I thought we did a good job of attacking the basket when they got to within five,” Bruno said. “We had seen this script before. It was really important that we learn from history today. These players are too intelligent so they were interested in learning from history rather than being doomed to repeat it.”
Game Notes:
– DePaul wore their white jerseys with pink trim and pink headbands to honor Play4Kay, to honor former North Carolina State Coach Kay Yow, who passed away from breast cancer in 2007. Creighton wore their pink uniforms as well. Breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime.