DePaul Thumps Providence, Moves to 14-5

CHICAGO- It was Autograph Night at DePaul’s McGrath Arena Saturday night though the Demons’ Natasha Williams, Deirdre Naughton, and Keisha Hampton left their signatures before the final buzzer sounded.

The DePaul trio led the Demons to an 87-64 win over Providence in Big East action.

Williams scored 24 points, Naughton notched a new McGrath Arena assist record, and Hampton had her first collegiate double-double as the Demons (14-5, 2-3), mounted a big lead early and ran away from the Friars.

DePaul, up 19-8 with 11:36 remaining, went on a 14-3 run led by consecutive three pointers from Erin Cattell and Holly Medley and finished by a steal and lay up by China Threatt to push the lead to 33-11. DePaul led 43-29 at the half and by as much as 29 points in the second half.

Williams scored nine points in the first half and held the Friars’ leading scorer, Emily Cournoyer, to three points on 1-5 shooting. Cournoyer was held scoreless in the second half. The Demons shot 63% from the field in the first half.

“Coach (Bruno) has been telling us that the Big East is too tough to get a breather, and this was a nice win,” Williams said. “We came out with good energy and put down some shots and we played pretty good defense and rebounded.”

Naughton had 12 of her team’s 22 assists in setting the McGrath Arena record. DePaul is eighth in the nation in assists with 17.6 per game. She also scored eight points and had seven rebounds.

The Demons outrebounded Providence 45-38 and outscored the Friars 50-32 in the paint.

Hampton, a freshman from Philadelphia, had her first collegiate double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She added two blocked shots to the win.

“We have asked Keisha to focus on three things: run, rebound, and defend, “said DePaul head coach Doug Bruno. “The offense will take care of itself. Tonight I thought she had a great energy to rebound. She will just get better and there are easy baskets when you (rebound).”

The Demons, coming off a 1-3 swing against four ranked teams, set some goals after that difficult stretch.

“We had a few things to fix coming out of the Notre Dame (loss) specifically,” DePaul head coach Doug Bruno said. “We had to rebound the ball and we had to be a lot better in the half court. We also had to get our running game going and we had to execute in the half court better.”

“I still think this team can be very good. I said that during our tougher days and I say it now. We feel it coming together.”

Chelsea Marandola led Providence with 15 points. The Friars fall to 7-10, 1-3. DePaul now leads the series 5-2, having won the last five meetings.

The schedule gets no easier for DePaul as they entertain #23 Rutgers on Saturday, January 24.