Cardinal bedeviled by Blue Demons

Doug Bruno avoided the hat trick he didn't want. Unlike Pat Summitt and C. Vivian Stringer, Tara will get her 800th career win against someone other than DePaul — the Blue Demons crushed the Cardinal 91-71.

Kayla did not play tonight, ending her string of 121 straight starts beginning with the first game of her freshman season. It would have been a different game with her on the court, but perhaps not a different outcome. DePaul's aggressive swarming defense kept the Cardinal off balance and out of sync — never able to get their game going.

And the Blue Demons were red-hot on offense. Senior forward Felicia Chester, who has a career average of 7.6 points a game, scored 24 points at a rate of 89%. Keisha Hampton, DePaul's top scorer made 57% of her shots for 27 points. As a team, they shot 59.6% to our 40.6%.

Jeanette led the Cardinal with 23 points, Nneka had a double-double (10 and 10), and Joslyn sank three 3-pointers, but it wasn't nearly enough. DePaul was by far the better team tonight.

Here are the game reports:

• Stanford women suffer biggest basketball loss since 2003 by Jake Curtis
• No. 3/2 Stanford Dealt First Loss, 91-71 to No. 22/25 DePaul by Rick Gano, Associated Press
• Demons demolish discombobulated Cardinal by Wally Mersereau

The box score and play-by-play,

And a few photos:

Toni goes for a loose ball Sarah snags a rebound Chiney puts up a shot Mikaela drives to the basket