No. 23 women's basketball tops No. 14/12 Louisville 86-61

Prior to the No. 23 Blue Demons' 86-61 victory over the No. 14/12 ranked Louisville Cardinals (17-5, 6-3 Big East) on Tuesday night at McGrath-Phillps Arena, Head Coach Doug Bruno told his team in practice that this wasn't "Camp Kumbaya."

"There aren't any graham crackers or chocolate here," he told the team as they prepared to head on the road to Rutgers.

What did the team get him when they got on the bus? Well smores of course.

Tuesday night, Bruno had a compliment only he could come up with for the solid performance by the Blue Demons (17-6, 5-4 Big East)

"Very 'unsmoreslike'," he told Katherine Harry and Brittany Hrynko as they left the postgame press conference.

Very unsmoreslike it was, though the victory really couldn't have been much sweeter. In their largest win margin since beating Southern Illinois by 26 in December, numerous DePaul players set season and career-highs.

Harry, the junior forward who has struggled at times this season, stepped up with her best overall game of the season. Her 20 rebounds and six assists were a career-high and an arena record. She was also one of five Blue Demons to score in double-figures with her 14 points.

"That was pretty cool wasn't it?" Harry replied with after being asked about her performance. She pointed to the emphasis on rebounding in practice for her success.

It certainly has been working. Tuesday night marked her third straight game with double-digit rebounding totals and fourth in her last five.

"[We've] been challenging her to get 10 rebounds a game," Bruno commented about Harry. "It's okay to become a victim of your own excellence."

She was not the only excellent one against the Cardinals. Hrynko scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. She also chipped in six assists and a season-high six steals.

"I was just trying to anticipate their offense and go for the ball instead of letting them go back door," Hrynko said.

Anna Martin was her usual stellar self, with a team-high 19 points. She also did a solid job defensively, holding Cardinals' leading scorer Shoni Schimmel in check. Though she scored 14 points, a bit above her season average of 13.6, she scored roughly half of that in garbage time with the game well in hand for DePaul.

"Anna is a much better defensive player than people give her credit for," Bruno admitted about his star.

Deanna Ortiz was quiet on the scoreboard with only six points, but she also dished out a career-high with seven assists. Jasmine Penny and Megan Rogowski were the other two Blue Demons in double-figures with 14 and 11 points respectively.

When asked about how the team seems to be gelling at the most opportune time, Harry had a pretty good idea.

"Everybody is trying to come together and be more supportive of each other," she acknowledged. "I think we're just getting more comfortable with each other on and off the court."

It couldn't come at a better time for the Blue Demons, who next play right down the road on Super Bowl Sunday against rival Notre Dame. This will prove to be one of the stiffer tests of the season. With all that has gone on, Bruno thinks they will come out and fight.

"Every game has a life of its own," he said. "Our team has come through some difficult adversity. For us to come out and play basketball the way we did, I'm just so proud of them."