[Updated: 4:40 p.m. CST, Monday, Dec.16]

With a disappointing loss to Kentucky and a three-game road trip in Las Vegas approaching, head coach Doug Bruno said DePaul women’s basketball used Dartmouth as a game to grow.

Bruno wanted to see his team come together and play a solid game of basketball for 40 minutes.  DePaul has three games in three days for the Duel in the Desert tournament Thursday through Saturday.

Bruno was pleased with the results.

Megan Rogowski scored 18 points and Chanise Jenkins added a season high of 14 points to lead DePaul women’s basketball 90-76 Monday over Dartmouth.

“This was really an important game for us,” Bruno said. “I was just really happy with our team and we’re starting to come together as a team. Tonight we did a lot of good things. I thought some of the offense synergy I’m constantly searching for started to find itself.”

Dartmouth (1-8) provided a spirited effort, even taking the lead late in the game.  After they trailed 51-38 at halftime, the Big Green went on a 19-5 run to give them a 65-64 lead.

Dartmouth’s Fanni Szabo scored 18 points for her team and went 3-7 from beyond the arc.

“I’m really proud of what the Dartmouth kids did today,” Bruno said. “When other coaches get blown out, some have the tendency to cry about other coaches running up the score. When we get blown out, I apologize to the other coach for not being competitive enough.

“There’s something in me that’s really happy with how competitive Dartmouth was today,” Bruno said.

Despite Dartmouth’s comeback, Bruno and his players kept calm.  DePaul (5-3) secured the lead again when Jenkins hit a three pointer to give the Blue Demons a 69-68 lead, forcing DePaul to call a timeout with 7:49 left.

After the timeout, DePaul answered with a 13-0 run to extend the lead.  The Blue Demons closed the game with a 21-8 run.

“In the huddle, coach Jill (Pizzoti) told us we needed to get three stops,” Jenkins said. “It reminded me of the games we play in practice. That just kept playing in my head. I think everyone was on the same page and it was important for us to get stops down the stretch.”

DePaul’s game-changing run was in part because of the guard play from Jenkins and junior Brittany Hrynko. Hrynko finished with 13 points, six assists and two steals.

“Those two can be two of the best guards in the country from a facilitation point of view,” Bruno said. “I thought Britt had one of her best games of letting the offense come to her instead of predetermining her time to score. That’s all Britt has to do is understand great players make their teammates better.” 

DePaul finished with 34 three-point attempts, the team’s most since facing Georgetown in February.  Rogowski led the team with nine attempts, making four of them.

The game took place at an unusual start time of noon. DePaul hosted Field Trip Day, inviting schools from the Chicagoland area.

DePaul took a lead of 19 early on in the first half. DePaul’s bench had 21 points, a vast improvement from scoring six against Kentucky.  Freshman Brandi Harvey-Carr, in particular, came off the bench and scored 12 points.

The Blue Demons also had an extremely efficient day passing the basketball. The team had 24 assists on 32 field goals.

“We wanted to come here today and have some cohesion as a team,” Rogowski said.