HARTFORD, Conn. - The DePaul Blue Demons enter their conference tournament with a first-round bye for the fifth straight season. Following four consecutive first-round passes in Conference USA, the Blue Demons enter their first BIG EAST Championship as the No. 3 seed and face the winner of the No. 6 Pittsburgh-No. 11 Cincinnati game on Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST. DePaul holds a six-game winning streak with an overall record of 24-5 and an 11-5 record in BIG EAST action.

Other receiving first-day byes are top-seeded Rutgers, No. 2 Connecticut and fourth-seeded St. John's. Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall and Syracuse failed to make the 12-team field. Tuesday night's winner earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

DePaul heads into the conference championship with the fourth-best record in school history and stands at No. 15 in both the latest Associated Press poll and ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches' Top 25. DePaul is one of three BIG EAST programs in the nation's top 25.

The quarterfinal game and all postseason game can be heard live at www.depaulbluedemons.com . Jason Benetti is in his first year on the headset for the Blue Demons and describes all the action this season.

Conference Tournament Notes: The BIG EAST Championship is DePaul's fourth league tournament... the program is 20-13 (.606) all-time in conference tournaments... in DePaul's three previous first conference tournaments, they have reached the championship game each time... the Blue Demons claimed the 1989 North Star Conference title, the 1992 Great Midwest title and lost in the first Conference USA Championship game in 1996 to Memphis in overtime.

Sizing Up the Field: DePaul is 7-5 against the 11 possible opponents in the tournament field. The Blue Demons posted wins over Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Pittsburgh, St. John's and Villanova. DePaul was defeated by Connecticut, Rutgers, USF and West Virginia. DePaul and Notre Dame split the season series with each team winning on their home floor.

Noting the Blue Demons: The 79-50 win over Notre Dame on Feb. 12 was the 900th game in program history... in the 32nd season of play at DePaul, the women's basketball program is 567-336... Khara Smith became DePaul's all-time leading rebounder on Feb. 15 at Georgetown with 18 boards... she also surpassed the 2,000-point mark against Connecticut on Jan. 28 and passed Lenae Williams at Rutgers on Feb. 4 to move into second in scoring... the Blue Demons held the nation's longest home-floor winning streak at 33 games for about six hours before the loss to Connecticut on Jan. 28... Western Illinois lost for the first time at home in 47 games before the Blue Demons fell to the Huskies... the nine-game winning streak snapped at Notre Dame on Jan. 17 was the 14th run in school history of at least eight consecutive wins... the current six-game winning streak is the longest since the nine-gamer... the team started the season at 7-0 for the second time in the last three years and the third time in school history... the 91-79 victory at UW-Milwaukee on Nov. 30 was the 550th win in program history... in seven games this season, the team has combined to shoot better than .500 from the field... on the flip side, DePaul has held the opposition to .350 or less on 10 occasions... the Blue Demons have held their opponents to less than 60 points in 14 games this season... the team is 14-0 in those games... over the last five-plus seasons (183 games), DePaul has scored at least 80 points in 68 games.. they hold a 65-3 record in those games... Allie Quigley became the 10th player in school history with 100 three-pointers on Dec. 22 at Northwestern... Jenna Rubino hit her 100th career three at Seton Hall to become the 11th in school history... Ciara Johnson's 6-for-6 effort against Saint Francis marked the 11th time in school history that a player has gone perfect from the field with a minimum of five attempts... the Rainbow Wahine Classic title was DePaul's sixth straight in-season tournament championship... they won the Moran Realty Classic in 2002, 2003, 2004 and the Blue Sky Restaurant Classic in 2004... the team opened this season with a DePaul Invitational championship followed by the Rainbow Wahine Classic title.

Quarterfinal Opponent - No. 6 Pittsburgh Panthers: The Blue Demons and Panthers could meet for the second time this season and first time in conference tournament action on Sunday night. Pittsburgh enters the tournament at 18-9 overall and 9-7 in BIG EAST action. They finished in a four-way tie for sixth place, but earned the sixth seed via tiebreakers over USF, Villanova and Marquette. Marcedes Walker leads the team with 17.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. She is followed by Mallorie Winn with 15.0 points and Xenia Stewart with 10.1 points per contest. Head coach Agnus Berenato is in her third season as head coach of the Panthers.

The Series: A possible meeting on Sunday would be the third all-time meeting between the two teams with the series split at 1-1. Khara Smith led the Blue Demons to an 81-75 win on Jan. 3 with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Allie Quigley added a career-high 26 points as DePaul outscored the Panthers, 34-28, in the second half following a 47-47 tie at halftime. Previously, Pittsburgh claimed the first all-time meeting at the Pitt Invitational with an 85-84 overtime decision.

It Could Happen: A quarterfinal win would give DePaul just the third season with at least 25 wins... Sunday's game will be the 127th in Khara Smith's career to put her in tie for DePaul's all-time record... Veronica Ross and Beth Hasenmiller hold the record for career games at 127... Smith needs three free throws to move into fourth all-time... Allie Quigley needs two points to reach 900 career points... Jenna Rubino needs one three-pointer to pass Jenni Dant and move into sole possession of 10th all-time at DePaul.

Khara Smith Named BIG EAST Player of the Week: On two occasions this season, DePaul senior forward Khara Smith has been named the BIG EAST Player of the Week. In her career, she has accumulated a total of 10 Player of the Week honors with eight Conference USA weekly awards.

She picked up her first honor after leading the Blue Demons to a pair of league victories over Pittsburgh and Marquette. The two-time All-American scored 29 points in each game and grabbed a total of 24 rebounds for the week. Smith opened the week with a season-high 29 points and 14 rebounds against Pittsburgh before finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds at Marquette for her 65th career double-double.

After a pair of wins over Georgetown and St. John's, Smith picked up her second weekly BIG EAST honor with averages of 18.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals. She totaled her 71st career double-double with 24 points, 18 rebounds, four steals and three blocks at Georgetown before totaling 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals against St. John's.

Quigley Named Academic All-District: DePaul sophomore Allie Quigley was named to District V's second team for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District women's basketball teams. She was one of 11 student-athletes named to the district's first and second teams. Joining her on the second team was Kristen Weddle of Indiana State, Erin Pauk of Southern Illinois, Butler's Jackie Closser, Tina Bolte of Ball State and Minnesota's Shannon Schonrock. Melanie Boeglin of Indiana State, April Calhoun from Minnesota, Notre Dame's Megan Duffy, Valparaiso's Betsy Rietema and Liz Podominick of Minnesota were named to the first team. Quigley holds a 3.83 grade point average at DePaul and is undecided on her major.

In Case You're Wondering: Khara Smith's 20 points and six rebounds at West Virginia preceded by the 13-point, six-rebound game at Rutgers marked just the fifth time since the start of the 2003-04 season (91 games) that she's gone without a double-double in consecutive games. Since the start of her sophomore year, Smith has never played three straight games without a double-double.

The last two-game double-double drought occurred earlier this season at Seton Hall on Jan. 21 (18 pts./9 rebs.) and against Louisville on Jan. 25 (5 pts./12 reb.). As a junior, she went without a double-double on Feb. 20 at Memphis (15 pts./9 rebs.) and Feb. 27 against Marquette (8 pts./9 rebs.). It also happened earlier in the 2004-05 season on Dec. 12 at Tennessee (18 pts./8 rebs.) and Dec. 15 at Northern Illinois (26 pts./9 rebs.).

Add it Up: Closing in on the final chapter of her collegiate career, Khara Smith is ranked among the top six in program history in 11 of 17 statistical categories. She holds DePaul's top career field goal percentage of .599 and rebound total of 1,307 rebounds. Smith is also ranked second in scoring and field goals, third in rebounding average, fourth in steals, fifth in free throws, free throw attempts and blocked shots, and sixth in scoring average and field goal attempts. Smith is third all-time with 126 career games.

With 13 rebounds against UNLV on Nov. 19, she became the fourth player in school history with 1,000 career rebounds. She joins Diana Vines, Mfon Udoka (pronounced Oom-fon U-dough-kuh) and Debra Robinson in the DePaul record books. The 12-rebound game against Louisville on Jan. 25 pushed her over the 1,200-rebound mark and following the game against Syracuse, she has a program-best 1,307 career boards. She surpassed Vines for first all-time with 18 boards at Georgetown on Feb. 15.

The 13-point, six-rebound effort on Feb. 4 at Rutgers, moved Smith past Lenae Williams and into second all-time with 2,050 points. Williams totaled 2,046 points in her four-year career. Vines holds the career scoring mark with 2,504 points. Following the 15-point, 14-rebound game against Syracuse, Smith has totaled 2,153 points in her 126 career games. Smith is the fourth male or female player in DePaul history with 2,000 career points - joining Vines, Williams and Mark Aguirre. Aguirre finished his career with 2,182 points.

Blue Demons Reach New Heights: On the heels of a 15-1 record over the first 16 games of the season, the DePaul women's basketball team entered the nation's top 10 in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches' poll for the first time in school history. DePaul jumped up a spot from No. 11 in the coaches' poll after a pair of BIG EAST victories over Pittsburgh and Marquette.

The Blue Demons were slotted at No. 10 in the Coaches' top 25 with 505 points, just a point behind No. 9 Rutgers with 506 points. A panel of 31 head coaches at NCAA Division I institutions votes on the weekly top 25. The writers' poll saw a No. 10 ranking after the Blue Demons knocked off Villanova. Before the win over the Wildcats, DePaul was slotted at No. 11.

Vote Early and Often: Already a two-time All-American, Khara Smith stands as a consensus National Player of the Year candidate. She is a 2005-06 candidate for the Wade Trophy, Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy for National Player of the Year honors. A veteran of the national award lists, she has been one of 16 finalists for the Wooden Award in each of the last two years.

The State Farm Wade Trophy preseason list is made up of 25 student-athletes that are selected by a national awards committee of leading basketball coaches, journalists and basketball administrators. The selections are based on the criteria of game and season statistics, leadership, character, effect on their team and overall playing ability.

Smith is one of three players on this season's preseason Wooden Award list that is a two-time finalist. Joining Smith on the short list is LSU's Seimone Augustus and Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers. Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his/her university the he/she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 grade point average. For the third straight year, Smith was named to Midseason Top 20 list that will eventually be pared down to the top 16 finalists. The top 30 preseason candidates were selected by a national poll conducted by the Los Angeles Athletic Club's National Advisory Board.

The Naismith Trophy selected Smith as one of 50 on its preseason list compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators. Recently, she was placed on the midseason top 30 list for the Naismith Award. Additionally, Cingular Wireless provides fans the opportunity to vote for the Naismith Trophy winner through text messaging.

Smith is also one of 30 student-athletes nominated for the 2005-06 Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award. The award, now in its fifth year, is presented annually to the nation's senior player-of-the-year for men's and women's basketball. An acronym for “Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School,” the award was initiated by sportscaster Dick Enberg and launched during the 2001-02 season. A list of 10 finalists will be named in February and be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide voting process during the NCAA Tournament. Enberg will announce the winners at the men's Final Four in April.

Home Cookin': In five-plus seasons, the DePaul Athletic Center has proven itself as one of the toughest venues in the nation. The Blue Demons have posted a 74-9 record in the arena's first 83 games. In the 32nd season, the Blue Demons have an all-time home court record of 336-93 (.783). Over 26 seasons at Alumni Hall, the women's basketball program won over 75 percent of their games with a 242-80 all-time record. At the Allstate Arena, the women's program has posted an all-time record of 20-4.

In 30-plus seasons of women's basketball at DePaul University there have been 13 streaks of at least 10 straight home victories. The longest streak was the 33-game run that started on Dec. 19, 2003 with a 99-63 win over Alabama State and ended on Jan. 28, 2006 with an 84-75 defeat to then-No. 5/4 Connecticut. The victory over Houston on Feb. 11, 2005, broke the former record of 20 games from Feb. 4, 1978-Feb. 19, 1979.

Over the last three-plus years, the team is 55-2 at home with the two losses to a pair of teams ranked in the top five. DePaul lost in overtime to then-No. 2 Tennessee on Dec. 17, 2003 before the Connecticut loss this season. Maybe more impressive is that the Blue Demons average margin of victory during that span is 24.2 points per game.

The Blue Demons have also posted 52 straight home victories over unranked opponents. During the 52-game streak over unranked opponents, there have been 50 victories at the DePaul Athletic Center and two wins at the Allstate Arena. Tulane handed DePaul their last home loss to an unranked team on Mar. 2, 2002, with a 88-83 decision in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament.

Three-Fifty: Head coach Doug Bruno earned his 350th coaching victory at DePaul in the win over UNLV on Nov. 19. In his 20th season with the Blue Demons, he holds a record of 372-215 (.634). In 22 seasons of coaching women's basketball, he has a 412-243 record.

Statistically Speaking: Through the regular season, DePaul ranks among the BIG EAST's top five in 12 of 19 categories. The Blue Demons lead the league in scoring offense (77.1 ppg), rebounding offense (42.5 rpg), rebounding margin (+7.6) and assists (19.03 apg). The team is also ranked second among the 16 programs in scoring margin (+14.1 ppg), offensive rebounds (15.97 rpg), defensive rebounds (26.55) and steals (10.00). Individually, Khara Smith leads the league in rebounding (11.1) and defensive rebounds (7.90 rpg), and is second in field goal percentage (.586). Smith is ranked among the BIG EAST's top 15 in seven statistical categories. The Blue Demons also sport two of the league's top seven scorers with Smith at third (17.8 ppg) and Allie Quigley at seventh (15.7 ppg).

Through games of Feb. 27 in the NCAA statistics, DePaul is among the nation's top 25 teams in six categories. The Blue Demons are fourth in assists per game, ninth in scoring offense, 14th in rebound margin, 15th in scoring margin, 17th in winning percentage and 25th in field goal percentage. Khara Smith is 10th with 11.0 rebounds per game, 13th with a .589 field goal percentage and 40th with 17.9 points per game.

New Faces, New Places: The Blue Demons are in their first season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference this season. Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette and South Florida join the Blue Demons from Conference USA to form the largest conference in NCAA Division I with 16 programs. The 2005-06 BIG EAST line-up includes Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, South Florida, Syracuse, Villanova and West Virginia.

DePaul holds a 96-60 all-time record against the 2005-06 group of BIG EAST members. Of the 156 games against BIG EAST opponents, the Blue Demons have played Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame and USF a total of 136 times. The program is a combined 10-7 all-time against Connecticut, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Providence, Seton Hall, Villanova and West Virginia. DePaul played Rutgers, St. John's and Syracuse for the first time this season.

BIG EAST Beast: The new-look lineup of BIG EAST programs hold a combined 137-45 (.753) in non-conference games and hold three of the top 15 spots in each of the national polls. League schools have played against 28 different conferences and remain undefeated against 13 of them. Joining the Blue Demons in the nation's top 25 in the latest Associated Press poll are No. 6 Rutgers and No. 7 Connecticut. In the most recent ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches' Top 25, Rutgers is also No. 6 followed by Connecticut at No. 7. The Blue Demons are 15th in both the Coaches' poll and the writer's top 25.

Conference History: The BIG EAST Conference is the fourth conference for DePaul's women's basketball program. The Blue Demons were members of the North Star Conference from 1983-91, the Great Midwest Conference from 1991-95 and Conference USA from 1995-2005.

Taking Advantage From Beyond the Arc: Since the start of the 2002-03 season, the club has knocked down 860 trifectas compared to just 494 for the opposition. Over the last six years, the team has totaled at least 200 three-pointers in each season. With a 0-for-8 showing against Houston on Feb. 11, 2005, DePaul's streak of games with a three-pointer ended at 259 games. At the time, it was the nation's seventh-longest active streak.

In 29 games this season, the Blue Demons have outscored their opponents by 162 points from three-point range (5.6 ppg). DePaul is 187-580 (.322) from behind the arc while opponents are a combined 133-412 (.323). The squad averages 6.4 three's per game while the opposition makes 4.6 treys per contest.

At the Rainbow Wahine Classic, the Blue Demons used the experimental three-point distance of 20'6”. The team posted a combined .306 percentage from behind the extended arc on 15-of-49 shooting in the three games.

Giving to Charity: Over the last five seasons, DePaul finished either first or second in the league rankings in free throw percentage. A year ago in the final season in Conference USA, the Blue Demons were first with a .735 percentage from the line preceded by a second-place finish in 2003-04 with a .724 team mark. The squad finished the 2002-03 campaign ranked second with a .718 season percentage and claimed the top spot in 2001-02 with a .738 percentage.

Over the first eight games this season, the Blue Demons were off to a slow start at the line with a team percentage of .641 (84-131). The next 13 games saw the team combine to go 183-for-245 (.747) from the line before a season-low mark of .333 (4-12) at West Virginia. The Blue Demons combined for a percentage of .597 (46-77) in a six-game stretch that started at West Virginia and ended against St. John's. DePaul broke out of the slump by going 20-for-24 (.833) at Providence on Feb. 25. In December, the team combined to go 47-of-53 (.887) from the line in three straight games against UW-Green Bay, Northern Illinois and Saint Francis. Overall, the Blue Demons are 344-of-493 (.698) at the charity stripe to place sixth among the BIG EAST's 16 programs.

March Madness in Chicago: DePaul University and the Allstate Arena are one of eight hosts for the First and Second Rounds of the 2006 NCAA Women's Championship. The Chicago site is schedule for first round games on Saturday, March 18 followed by a pair of second round games on Monday, March 20.

The Allstate Arena was the site of the Men's Chicago Regional last season that saw Illinois advance to the Final Four with wins over UW-Milwaukee and Arizona. The facility also served host to the 1996 Women's Sweet Sixteen.

DePaul holds a 20-4 all-time record at the Allstate Arena and have won their last eight games there including a 102-57 win over Southern Illinois in December 2003. The DePaul men's program plays their entire home schedule at the arena located in Rosemont, Ill.

TV Time: Throughout the regular season, the DePaul women's basketball program was featured multiple times on national television. The Blue Demons made a total of nine TV appearances during the regular season. DePaul played twice on the ESPN network in BIG EAST games against Louisville on Jan. 25 (ESPNU) and Notre Dame on Feb. 12 (ESPN2). The Blue Demons also appeared on CSTV in games against Pittsburgh on Jan. 3 and at Notre Dame on Jan. 17.

The BIG EAST TV Network came to the DePaul Athletic Center on Jan. 14 for the Villanova game while the St. John's game was televised on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The BIG EAST Tournament features the quarterfinals on CSTV, semifinals on ESPNU and the championship game on ESPN2.

BIG EAST Preseason Picks: The league's 16 coaches slated the Blue Demons at No. 4 in the BIG EAST preseason poll. Rutgers was selected as the favorite with 11 first-place votes followed by Connecticut and Notre Dame. Senior forward Khara Smith was one of 12 players named to the league's All-BIG EAST preseason team. Rutgers' Cappie Pondexter was named the Preseason Player of the Year.

National Preseason Picks: The DePaul women's basketball team is picked among the nation's top 25 and senior forward Khara Smith has been named a preseason All-American in various preseason publications. Smith was named a first team All-American by the cbssportsline.com College Basketball Preview and a second-teamer by Lindy's. She also picked up High Honorable Mention honors in Street and Smith's. She is joined on the cbssportsline.com first team by Seimone Augustus of LSU, Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers, Sophia Young of Baylor and Ohio State's Jessica Davenport. The Blue Demons are ranked 11th in the preseason top 25 by cbssportsline.com and 20th in Street and Smith's.

ESPN.com Notice: In the women's basketball preview on ESPN.com, the DePaul program was cited on a number of occasions. Khara Smith was slotted as the nation's top rebounder by three of the four ESPN.com women's basketball experts and the DePaul-Connecticut game was selected as one of the top 10 games to watch this season. The Blue Demons and Huskies tangle at the DePaul Athletic Center on Jan. 28. Smith was also named one of the top five forwards in the country joining Baylor's Sophia Young, Candice Dupree of Temple, Tiffany Jackson of Texas and Michigan State's Liz Shimek.

Busy, Busy: DePaul's six victories in the month of November is a program-best surpassing the five-win month a year ago. The six total games also sets a monthly high matching the six games played by the 2001-02 squad. In that season, the Blue Demons posted a 4-2 record in November.

Three times in program history a team has started the season with seven straight wins. The previous two 7-0 squads improved to 8-0 in their eighth games of the season. The 1985-86 squad started at 9-0 before their first loss while the 2003-04 team started the season at 8-0.

Family Time: Siblings and teammates Erin and Rachael Carney are just one of 16 sets of sisters playing on the same NCAA Division I team this season. The only other BIG EAST sister duo is in Cincinnati where Anne and Jill Stephens play for the Bearcats. Among the 16 sets of sisters playing on the same team, there are five sets of twins. Fairleigh Dickinson and Liberty go one step further as each features a set of triplets.

Against the State: DePaul has seen recent success against opponents from the state of Illinois. Over the last 31 games against Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Southern Illinois, the Blue Demons have posted 30 victories. In 2004-05 against Northwestern, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois, the club was a perfect 5-0. This season, the Blue Demons topped Northern Illinois, Loyola-Chicago and Northwestern.

Wisconsin State Champs?: In four games this season against programs from Wisconsin, the Blue Demons went a perfect 4-0. They topped Wisconsin to win the Rainbow Wahine Classic over Thanksgiving before knocking off UW-Milwaukee on Nov. 30. DePaul topped UW-Green Bay on Dec. 10 and defeated Marquette on Jan. 7 in Milwaukee.

Rainbow Recap: DePaul topped Eastern Michigan, Texas A&M and Wisconsin en route to the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. Khara Smith picked up MVP honors with three double-doubles and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Allie Quigley and Jenna Rubino.

DePaul knocked off Eastern Michigan, 64-49, behind 21 points from Quigley and a 12-point, 11-rebound game from Smith. The Blue Demons used a 17-5 run in the second half to pull away after leading, 24-19, at halftime.

The Blue Demons advanced to the championship game with an 84-71 decision against Texas A&M. Four players reached double-figures led by Rubino's 18 points. DePaul led by as many as 19 points in the second half with Smith pulling down 14 rebounds to go with 16 points.

In the championship game, the Blue Demons opened the second half with a 15-1 run to increase a 35-32 halftime lead to a 76-57 victory. Smith turned in her third double-double in as many days with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Rubino added 17 and Quigley scored 14 points.

DePaul Invitational Review: The Blue Demons started the season with two wins and the first-place DePaul Invitational plaque. DePaul knocked off Harvard and UNLV while Jenna Rubino was named the tourney's MVP. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by Allie Quigley and Khara Smith.

The Blue Demons started quickly against Harvard and never looked back in a 97-52 victory. Rubino led the way with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field as the Blue Demons scored the first 16 points of the game and opened the contest with a 25-2 run. When the dust settled, the Blue Demons won by a score of 97-52 with no player seeing more than 19 minutes of action.

DePaul won the title with an 88-72 decision against UNLV. Smith tallied her first double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Quigley dropped in a team-high 21 points against the Lady Rebels. Rubino added 17 points, five rebounds as the Blue Demons outscored UNLV, 54-37, in the second half after trailing by a score of 35-34 at halftime.

Season-Opening Notes: In the 32nd season of women's basketball at DePaul University, the Blue Demons are 24-8 all-time in the first game. This season, they cruised by Harvard, 97-52, in the first game of the DePaul Invitational at the DePaul Athletic Center. The 45-point margin of victory was the second-highest season-opening advantage in school history. In DePaul's first game in 1974, the Blue Demons posted a 62-17 win over Mundelein. Head coach Doug Bruno is 15-5 in the season-opener at DePaul. The Blue Demons have won five straight first games after dropping three in-a-row from 1998-00.

Looking Forward: DePaul signed four players to a National Letter of Intent in November. Felicia Chester, China Threatt, Kayla Guidry and Samantha Quigley join the program next fall as freshmen and hail from Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Missouri.

Chester, nationally ranked among the top players at her position, averaged 12.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 3.0 blocks per game as a junior. She picked up second team All-State honors after leading Incarnate Word Academy to the state finals. The Red Knights finished third in the state with a 28-3 record. The 6'2” forward enters her senior season as the school's all-time shot blocker and picked up second team All-Metro honors from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a junior. The All Star Girls Report ranks the forward at No. 107 in the country and the 25th-ranked player at her position.

Guidry averaged 15 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game as a junior for the Peabody Warhorses. The 5'8” guard earned first team All-District honors and was named the Rapides Parrish Most Valuable Player. She also was named the KLAX Athlete of the Week and played on Junior Olympic state and national teams.

The second Quigley in three years to sign a National Letter of Intent at DePaul, Samantha joins her sister, Allie, next season in Lincoln Park. A three-sport standout in volleyball, basketball and softball, she averaged 16.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.0 steals as a junior at Joliet Catholic Academy. Quigley earned third team All-State honors from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association and first team All-Area honors from the Joliet Herald-News. Entering her senior season, she holds career averages of 15.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

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