Inside the DePaul women’s basketball locker room there’s a “shrine to toughness,” as Meg Newman, senior guard, described. These pictures represent members of the “charge club,” a testament to the team’s passion and sacrifice for the letters across their chests. 

Head coach Jill Pizzotti said the club began five or six years ago as a way to celebrate one of the grittiest and most momentum-changing plays in the game.

“It was just something we created to try to bring some attention to the importance of earning charges,” Pizzotti said. “In the women’s game, a charge is one of the most exciting things. It can be a momentum shifter — at the end of very close games, drawing a charge can be huge to securing a victory.” 

In basketball, a charge is a defensive play that occurs when an offensive player runs into a defender who has established a legal guarding position. The defender must be set — both feet on the ground and facing the opponent — and if the referee rules that the defender was stationary and outside the restricted area, the call results in an offensive foul and a turnover. 

Taking a charge often means slamming the floor to stop a drive to the basket. Because of the timing and the toll a charge may take on the body, it’s one of the most celebrated hustle plays in women’s basketball.

“It’s great having people that are willing to sacrifice their bodies for those kinds of things,” said redshirt senior guard Meg Newman.

To make it into the charge club, players must take at least three charges in a season — a challenge that encourages friendly competition and accountability.

“You put your application in after your first one,” Pizzotti said with a laugh. “There’s no actual paperwork — I just call it that. Second charge, application pending. Then, boom you get the (third) charge you’re in the charge club.” 

From there, the team keeps a running tally of each player’s total — fourth, fifth, sixth and beyond. But Pizzotti says it’s about more than numbers.

“When someone gets a charge, it’s about getting excited about it,” she said. “When we first started it, it was probably primarily the coaches really getting excited. But now, if you watch a game, you see our whole team get excited.”

Junior guard Sumer Lee, last season’s “charge queen,” earned 27 charges during the 2024-25 season, the most by any Blue Demon. 

Players take pride in the title — not just for the recognition, but for what it represents in a sport that doesn’t often spotlight defensive effort. 

“Charges are really cool because, in women’s basketball, there aren’t a lot of dunks,” said Newman. “A charge is an incredible way to change the momentum.”

By the end of each season, nearly every player on the team has earned a place on the wall.

“By the end of the year, there’s literally a whole wall dedicated to the charge club,” Newman said.

That excitement isn’t limited to returners — new faces are eager to join the tradition and make their own mark on the wall.

“We have a lot of girls who like to take charges, and it’s really fun,” said Kate Novik, junior transfer guard from Morehead State. “The energy it brings makes things even more exciting. I think it’s a really cool aspect of our team.”

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