Women's basketball dominates St. Xavier 112-47

Typically, in one-sided games, the team on top often tends to get complacent playing with a big lead. Fortunately for the DePaul women's basketball team, that wasn't the case in their 112-47 drubbing of the St. Xavier Cougars on Saturday.

The Blue Demons had a balanced scoring effort, with six players finishing in double-figures, and kept the engine running the entire game. Freshman point guard Brittany Hrynko led DePaul with 19 points, three rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Anna Martin was close behind with 16 points on a productive 6-7 shooting from the field.

"There were a lot of positives that could be taken from this game tonight," said head coach Doug Bruno. "We shot a good percentage with a good proportion of assists to baskets, and had good balance on the floor."

Martin attributed the assertiveness to finding her comfort zone within the "flow of the game," saying she simply wanted to "get some shots up early, and then go from there."

Bruno also commented on the impact his subs had on the game, led mainly by shooting guards Kelsey Reynolds and Megan Rogowski, who had 15 and 14 points, respectively. They combined to shoot an impressive 7-13 from downtown.

"I was really pleased with what Kelsey and Megan were able to do off the bench," said Bruno. "I think we had some great bench play tonight."

Reynolds, who was on the roster last season but was unable to play due to transfer regulations, still got acclimated with the system and how Bruno would like it run. She is now relishing the opportunity to get playing time.

"It's just nice to finally get to play again," said Reynolds. "I think practicing [last season] and learning the system made the transition easier going into this year."

Bruno added that Reynolds is "finding her niche" this season, saying the 5-9 guard "has many positive basketball strengths, and she's playing to those strengths."

If any negatives were to be taken from Saturday's game, it would have to be losing the ball. The Blue Demons finished with 25 turnovers, almost matching St. Xavier's 32.

"We turned the ball over way too much, we need to clean up our turnovers and also need to work on the offensive rebound factor, too," said Bruno. "It was just a matter of young players just trying to make a play when there isn't a play to be made. It's important for them to not be in such a hurry, so I think there's some work to be done there."

As is expected, this young team has work to do polishing their fundamentals and holding on to the ball. Regardless of their instances of sloppy play, the women's team capitalized on their balanced scoring en route to the large victory. Should they continue their hot shooting, the Blue Demons will have a great chance to start their exhibition schedule 3-0, as they take on Saint Mary's on Nov. 11 at McGrath-Phillips Arena.