DePaul women’s basketball began the season with a 77-53 win against Western Michigan University (WMU) Monday night at Wintrust Arena, followed by their first ever matchup with the Skyhawks of Stonehill University of the Northeast Conference Thursday, Nov. 10.
Stonehill came to Wintrust with a 0-1 record on the season. It was Veterans Day Salute to Service night at Wintrust, and during half-time and time-outs veterans were recognized and saluted for their service.
DePaul opened scoring with the game’s first points, a quick basket by Anaya Peoples, the team’s leading scorer in their first game against WMU when she scored 20 points with 13 rebounds.
DePaul had great transition play as the game progressed. The game was taken over in the second half by guard Katlyn Gilbert. The graduate student finished the game with the program’s seventh ever triple double, notching 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals in 27 minutes on the floor.
“All my teammates played how they were supposed to play, things just fell the way they did,” Gilbert said. “I can’t take this accolade for myself, I give it to my team.”
Guard Kate Clarke also had a tremendous night on the floor shooting 7-11 from the field and scoring 17 points, a career high for the sophomore.
“It feels good. It gives us a little boost of confidence on all sides of the ball,” Clarke said of how it felt to have scored a career high in points prior to such a crucial early season game against the Cardinals.
Stonehill played a sloppy game all four quarters as DePaul made it difficult for their opponent to score. The Skyhawks only managed 20 points in the paint for the game. The fast break points were 4 for Stonehill and 31 for DePaul, who had a significant advantage running the floor with their player’s size and length.
DePaul comfortably beat Stonehill 99-52.
“We just had to use the game to get better in every possession,” head coach Doug Bruno said. “Now we are looking at Louisville Sunday on the road as a ranked opponent. It’s important that players play well in the first week as the schedule heats up.”
DePaul faces the No. 17 Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, Sunday Nov. 12. They are the team’s first ranked opponent of the season. A big test for what kind of team Coach Bruno has this season.
After the game, Bruno also commented on DePaul’s six recent signings for the 2024-25 season, on what was only the second day of the fall signing season.
“We expect all six of these incoming freshmen to make an immediate impact on our program and balance the ‘new age’ transfer portal with quality fresh recruits,” Bruno said.
