“We want to shoot open shots. We try to simplify if you’re open you shoot it — if you’re not open, you share it, you move it,” Pizzotti said. “We don’t want to be searching off the dribble. If you can catch it and rip it and attack the basket, yes, but not catch it and search and not know out there. You saw some of that, you know, and that doesn’t work out well for us.

“Part of the challenge is we want to play quick, but then we want to have patience if something’s not there right away.”

“I’m frustrated but optimistic at the same time,” Newman said. “I know that we have a special group in the locker room. We’re young, but we’re extremely talented. We’re a connected team. We’re in the process of learning how to put that on the floor for you guys and for each other, but I’m optimistic. I think right now, you know, no one in the country is playing their best basketball, and if we learn these lessons now, we’re in a great spot in February and March.”

DePaul is making turnover after turnover. This has let Loyola Chicago get an extra four points within a matter of seconds. Sure enough, DePaul head coach Jill Pizzotti calls a timeout. Less than four minutes to go in the game.

DePaul seemed to be slipping away a few minutes ago, but now they’re only behind by two. Meg Newman was fouled, and she made the extra free throw. A little less than six minutes left in the game.

Loyola Chicago finished the quarter with a 3-pointer from junior guard Audrey Deptula — it’s their first 3-pointer of the game. Now we head into the fourth and last quarter of the game. 

DePaul finally has the lead in this game — Kate Novik helped make that happen by making a 3-pointer.

DePaul and Loyola both haven’t scored for the last two minutes or so. Neither team has made it to the 30 point mark yet. A little less than five minutes left in the third quarter.

A little more than two minutes have gone by so far in the third quarter. Loyola has scored four points so far. Around seven minutes left to go in the third quarter.

DePaul cut Loyola Chicago’s lead to one point. DePaul scored 18 points in the second quarter; even though their field goal percentage still isn’t the prettiest (32%), it’s significantly better than the first quarter. Ally Timm still leads DePaul in points with seven.

The Blue Demons went on a 10 point run within the last six minutes of the first half, while the Ramblers only scored two points.

Loyola Chicago has 11 turnovers so far and six of them happened within the last six minutes of the first half.

DePaul is finally scoring the ball. They’ve scored 13 points within a little less than six minutes. Redshirt freshman guard Ally Timm has the most points for the Blue Demons with five. Four minutes left to go in the first half.

Graduate forward Michelle Ojo got a flagrant foul, which let Loyola score two extra points. A little more than seven minutes left to go in the first half.

Alayna West scores a 3-pointer and gets fouled. She scored the free throw, and DePaul is now behind by seven points. A little more than nine minutes left to go in the first half.

First quarter is done, and it was not pretty. While Loyola Chicago kept on scoring, DePaul stayed at five points — they didn’t score in the last seven minutes. They’ve only made 15% of their shots (2-for-13). 

DePaul has had three turnovers within the last three minutes — they also haven’t scored within the last three minutes. The only two shots they’ve made so far are a two-pointer from Kate Novik and a 3-pointer from Aizhanique Mayo. 

With a little less than six minutes left to go in the first quarter, the game has been a bit slow. DePaul has only made two of their five shots so far, compared to Loyola Chicago who has made 100% of their shots (4-for-4).

DePaul Blue Demons starters:

• Aizhanique Mayo, redshirt junior
• Alayna West, redshirt freshman guard
• Natiah Nelson, sophomore guard
• Kate Novik, junior guard
• Justis Odom, graduate forward

Loyola Chicago Ramblers starters:

• Alexa Kinas, sophomore guard
• Alex-Anne Bessette, freshman guard/forward
• Kira Chivers, senior guard
• Brooklyn Vaughn, sophomore forward
• Clara Djoko, redshirt junior forward

Tip-off between DePaul’s Justis Odom and Loyola Chicago’s Alex-Anne Bessette is won by DePaul.

The game starts NOW!

Meg Newman, who was out with an ankle injury earlier this season, officially played her first game of the season against Grambling State. In the two games she’s played so far, she has averaged 9.5 points and seven rebounds in 19.5 minutes.

1. Stop the turnovers! But keep forcing opponent turnovers.

DePaul struggled with turnovers the past two games. In their most recent game against Northern Colorado, they got 18 turnovers — the most they’ve gotten so far this season. Thankfully, Northern Colorado was only able to score nine points off those turnovers. 

On the other hand, DePaul is great with causing their opponents turnovers. Their game against Northern Colorado was the fifth time in six games that they forced 20 or more opponent turnovers. In those five games, they’ve scored 20 or more points off turnovers — besides Bradley, where they only scored 10.

2. Bench points are crucial.

In DePaul’s win against Grambling State, the bench scored 37 points, which was half of DePaul’s total points (75). In the Northern Colorado game, they only scored 17. In their biggest loss of the season so far against Bradley, they lost by 14 points — the bench only scored seven points. Compared to other games, they’ve scored 13 or more. 

3. Keep the lead.

In the Northern Colorado game, Northern Colorado only led for 30 seconds in the entirety of the game. They were able to crawl out with a win because of a last second shot.