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CHICAGO — Chante Stonewall scored on a game-winning 3 point play with five seconds left in regulation, lifting DePaul to a 74-73 victory over Marquette and the Blue Demons’ second straight BIG EAST Women’s Tournament Championship on Tuesday at Wintrust Arena.
With Marquette leading 73-71 and precious seconds slipping away, Stonewall drove baseline for a successful layup, drew a foul and converted a game-winning shot.
No. 2 seed DePaul (26-7) had trailed by five points with 4:14 to play and had not led since the opening quarter until Stonewall’s final effort.
Marquette (26-7) had a chance to open a three-point lead but Natisha Hiedeman missed the first of two free throws with 11 seconds left. She hit the second, but the costly miss offered DePaul an opening to shoot for at least a tie and overtime.
Stonewall, named the tourney’s most outstanding player, closed with 28 points while teammate, Lexi Held, added 11 as DePaul ran its winning streak to 11.
Hiedeman led a balanced Marquette attack with 18 points. Selena Lott had 13, Amani Wilborn added 12 while Danielle King and Allazia Blockton each collected 11.
Top seed Marquette won both regular season meetings en route to a BIG EAST regular season championship — a 96-63 blowout in Milwaukee on Jan. 4 and a narrower 93-87 decision in Chicago on Feb. 3.
Both featured high-scoring attacks, averaging a combined 164 points this season.
But each struggled in the early going as DePaul opened a 10-6 lead. The Blue Demons hit just 4 of 16 (25 percent) while the Golden Eagles also shot 25 percent.
Shooting picked up after that and Marquette led through most of the final minutes until DePaul forced a 20-20 tie on Tanita Allen’s 3 pointer as the first quarter ended.
Hiedeman hit back-to-back 3 pointers as Marquette opened a 33-26 lead as the mid-point of the second quarter neared. The Golden Eagles weathered a Blue Demon rally and claimed a 40-35 halftime lead on a Wilborn layup following a turnover as time expired.
Wilborn closed the half with 10 points while DePaul’s Stonewall had 13.
Marquette opened the third quarter with 3 pointers from Blockton and Lott and layups by Hiedeman and King for a 50-37 lead, its biggest of the game.
It did not last. DePaul chipped away and trimmed the deficit to 52-51 on Stonewall’s turnaround jumper with 3:04 showing along with a layup less than a minute later. The Blue Demons got no closer and the Golden Eagles went up 59-53 by quarter’s end.
DePaul’s Grays and Kelly Campbell and Marquette’s Hiedeman earned all tournament honors. So did Creighton’s Jaylyn Agnew and Georgetown’s Dorothy Adomako.
DePaul and Marquette were also well-represented on BIG EAST post-season teams.
The Golden Eagles’ Hiedeman was unanimous Player of the Year and First Team member while forward Erika Davenport was Second Team. She missed the tournament after suffering a season-ending knee injury late last month. Wilborn, meanwhile, was Honorable Mention and Blockton won the Sixth Woman Award.
Mart’e Grays topped DePaul’s All-Conference honorees, landing on the First Team. Stonewall was Second Team while Held made the All-Freshman team. Ashton Millender won the league’s Sportsmanship Award.
Marquette reached the championship by beating St. John’s 88-57 in quarterfinal play and topping Georgetown 75-62 in Monday’s semifinals. DePaul beat Providence 85-60 in the quarterfinals and advanced to the finals with Monday’s 80-69 semifinal win over Creighton.
The Blue Demons and Golden Eagles are both bound for the NCAA Division I tournament and will learn their opponents and game locations next week.
DePaul and Wintrust Arena will host an NCAA Regional later this month.
2019 BIG EAST Women's Basketball All-Tournament Team
Jaylyn Agnew, Creighton
Dorothy Adomako, Georgetown
Natisha Hiedeman, Marquette
Kelly Campbell, DePaul
Mart’e Grays, DePaul
Chante Stonewall, DePaul—Most Outstanding Player