Blue Demons Move One Step Closer to Goal after 78-52 Win Over Seton hall
By Jack McCarthy
Box Score | DePaul Quotes | Seton Hall Quotes
CHICAGO — Forward Mart’e Grays collected 21 points and 10 rebounds on Sunday as DePaul moved a step closer to its goal — a fourth Big East tournament championship in five years.
The No. 2 seed RV/RV Blue Demons (24-7) beat Seton Hall 78-52 in the quarterfinals at Wintrust Arena.
Ashton Millender had 15 points while Chante Stonewall added 11 points and 10 boards for DePaul, which shared the Big East regular season championship with Marquette but got the second seed on a tie breaker.
Selena Philoxy collected 14 points for the Pirates (16-15), hitting 6-of-8 from the field. The freshman fell one rebound short of a double-double, pulling down nine.
The Blue Demons, the Big East 3-point shooting leader with 372, hit on 14-of-44 tries on Sunday.
They connected on 6-of-11 from beyond the arc — including three from Grays — in the opening quarter on the way to a 27-17 lead.
Seton Hall trimmed the lead to six by halftime but the Blue Demons got the second half started with Millender’s 3-pointer and a 39-30 lead.
DePaul extended the lead from there to as many as 18 points en route to a 57-40 advantage by the end of the third. The lead hit 20 early in the fourth quarter on a pair of Grays free throws.
DePaul now advances to the semifinal round, and will take on the winner of the matchup between third-seeded Villanova and sixth-seeded Georgetown at 5:30 p.m. Central on March 5. The Blue Demons split their season series against both the Hoyas and the Wildcats.