CHICAGO – Annesah Morrow introduced herself to Blue Demon Nation on Thursday, and the folks at Wintrust Arena attending their first game since before the pandemic enjoyed the talented freshman's debut.
They also celebrated a dominant all-around game from sophomore Darrione Rogers.
All five starters scored in double figures as DePaul raced past Lewis 104-65 in an exhibition game in the South Loop.
Morrow finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds in just 19-and-a-half minutes, perhaps a prelude of things to come.
Rogers did a reasonable impersonation of former DePaul standout Kelly Campbell, coming two assists shy of a triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and eight helpers.
Team leaders Sonya Morris (17 points, seven assists, five rebounds), Lexi Held (14 points, six assists) and Deja Church (14 points, seven rebounds, four steals) came through with complete overall performances.
This one started out as the "M&M Show" as Morrow and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award candidate Morris combined for 16 of 31 points in staking the Blue Demons to a 31-18 lead after one quarter. Morrow also had six rebounds and two blocks in six minutes of playing time.
Back-to back baskets by Held and Deja Church provided the home team with its biggest lead of the first quarter at 31-16.
A cold shooting spell early in the second quarter allowed Lewis to pull within 10 points. Kayla Caudle's layup made it 42-30 at the media timeout.
That was the beginning of a 10-4 run to close out the second quarter for a 50-34 advantage at halftime.
Held had 10 points and five assists while Morrow totaled eight points and six boards in just six minutes. Morris also had eight points in six minutes as foul trouble limited both Morrow and Morris. Rogers came away with eight rebounds and five assists in the first half.
It was pure "DePaulBall" at the outset of the third quarter. It began with six-straight points courtesy of Held, Church and Rogers. The passing was crisp and on-time as the Blue Demons set each other up for open shots.
That early burst evolved into a 20-5 run as a Rogers three-pointer made it 70-39. Rogers, Church and Morris were in the eye of the Blue Demon storm.
"We didn't play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the first half," coach Doug Bruno said. "I thought the first five minutes or so of the third quarter was more indicative of how we can play."
Morris culminated a 10-0 run towards the end of the third quarter as DePaul eased out to an 80-43 lead. It was 82-48 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Bruno played his starters for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter and watched them build a 91-59 lead as Morrow scored seven points.
It all starts for real on Tuesday night with the regular-season opener against Texas Southern. That will be a night to remember as DePaul women's basketball honors former Blue Demon great Allie Quigley who helped lead the Chicago Sky to the WNBA championship last month.
Postgame Notes
- Rebounding was an Achilles heel for DePaul last season, and the Morrow-Rogers combo could help alleviate that shortcoming. They combined for 27 boards against the smaller Flyers on Thursday.
- More support on the backboards came from backup forwards Hannah Purcell and Kayla Caudle who combined for 10 rebounds while Church grabbed seven.
- Quigley and Texas Southern coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke represent five WNBA titles as Cooper-Dyke won four with the Houston Comets and is a four-time WNBA Finals MVP. She also won back-to-back NCAA tournament titles with USC.
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November 05, 2021 at 08:23AM
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Morrow and Rogers Light Up Wintrust Arena - DePaul Blue Demons
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