DePaul guard Brittany Hrynko played all 40 minutes against Pittsburgh, but it was her last 10 seconds that mattered most.
Tied at 55 with 12 seconds to go, Hrynko caught the inbound pass and stormed down the court. She dribbled her way through double coverage and attempted a crowded layup from the free throw line with 4.2 seconds left.
Hrynko nailed it.
The late-game bucket gave the women’s basketball team a narrow win Tuesday evening as they extended their home court winning streak to 11 by beating Pittsburgh 57-55.
“Coach told us in the huddle that we needed a basket. He wasn’t going to draw nothing up for us,”said Hrynko. “I knew a jump shot wasn’t going to cut it. If I missed, Coach would have told me that I had to get to the basket.”
On a night where DePaul (16-5, 5-2 in Big East) was down to seven active players, Hrynko and fellow guard Chanise Jenkins stepped up in the second half to spoil the upset-minded Panthers. Together, the guards combined for 28 points (19 by Hrynko and nine by Jenkins) and found their rhythm from midrange.
However, Pittsburgh (9-11, 0-6 in Big East) was in the game throughout. The Panthers led at halftime 25-24 and extended their lead to five at the beginning of the second half. Forward Asia Logan led the team with 15 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Despite being winless in the Big East, Blue Demons head coach Doug Bruno said that Pittsburgh came to play.
“They are 0-6, but I -we all -watched them up on tape,”said Bruno. “They really have talented athletes and talented players. I’m proud of [our] players that stepped up and were able to bring home a tough game against a tough Big East opponent.”
DePaul also saw a major contribution from forward Katherine Harry. The senior leader earned a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
However, Harry’s most valuable contribution, her coach said, was her vocal leadership on the defensive end.
“It was huge,”said Bruno, who clapped exuberantly when asked about Harry’s leadership. “Katherine demonstrated great leadership opportunities tonight and I was really proud of her as it was going on.”
“I was just trying to tell them that we needed one stop on defense,”said Harry. “When we were down there in the second half, there’s not going to be a five-point play that gets it all back in one possession. We knew that we have to continue to make stops down the stretch and ‘one-and-out’ them.”
Still, there were plenty of areas in which DePaul struggled. Bruno expressed his frustration regarding missed opportunities at the free throw line. The Blue Demons shot just 43.8 percent (7-16), including missing three separate foul shots that could have extended a 54-47 lead.
Instead, Pittsburgh went on a 7-1 run that tied the game up in the last 12 seconds. For a moment it looked like Pittsburgh was on the verge of an upset in the Windy City until Hrynko’s late-game heroics.
“I don’t care what anybody says when they look at the score and say DePaul only beat 0-6 Pitt by two,”said Bruno. “Pitt, at 0-6, is a very talented basketball team. They’ve played everybody tough this year.
“They’re gonna beat some people. Thank God it wasn’t us tonight.”
The Blue Demons next travel up north to face Marquette. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
ξ
Game Notes:
Leading scorer Anna Martin missed the game with a knee injury. Martin has been battling knee issues throughout the year.
With the win, DePaul increased its win streak to three in the Big East.
DePaul shot 43 percent from the field, on par with its season average of 43.5.