CHICAGO, Ill. - DePaul erased an early nine-point, first-half deficit Friday to defeat SIUE 75-65 in women's college basketball action at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

SIUE, 4-4, jumped out to a lead against the 20th-ranked Blue Demons on its opening possession as Courtney Kenner hit a three-pointer 38 seconds into the contest. Kenner would lead all scorers with 16 points.

DePaul turned the ball over in four of its first five possessions of the game. The Cougars built an 18-9 lead with 9:46 to play in the first half behind a pair of three-pointers by freshman Katie Hempen.

"We wanted to come in and make a statement that we didn't come here to be happy just play DePaul," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens. "We wanted to come here to show we could play with DePaul chin to chin and see what happens. I thought our team did a great job of not worrying about what they were ranked or what their name was. We just went out and tried to win the game."

Once settled down, the Blue Demons rallied for a 21-2 run after Hempen's second three-pointer of the game. DePaul, 8-1, also used the three-pointer as a weapon and one-upped the Cougars by hitting seven treys in the first half and headed to halftime leading 37-27.

Levens found much to be pleased about of her team. The Cougars held DePaul to 10 points less than its season average and forced 20 turnovers. SIUE shot slightly better than the Blue Demons 44.4 percent (24-54) to 44.3 percent (27-61) and was even in rebounds at 36-36.

The difference came in extra opportunities on offense for DePaul as the Cougars committed 25 turnovers.

"I thought I we did a good job of handling the press," said Levens. "Unfortunately, where we turned it over was in the frontcourt where we needed to be scoring. If we eliminate some of those turnovers, it's a different game."

DePaul, winners of 24 straight games at home, accelerated play in the second half behind Anna Martin and Brittany Hrynko who each scored 15 points. As a team, DePaul hit 13 of 27 from three-point range with three each from Martin, Hrynko, and Megan Rogowski.

The game looked like it could get away from the Cougars when DePaul took a 22-point lead in the second half when Jasmine Penny hit a jumper with 8:38 to play. DePaul also used its size advantage to be pesky on defense as seven different players combined for nine blocks.

But SIUE fought back.

Raven Berry was perfect from the field at 5 for 5 and finished with 12 points. Michaela Herrod shot 6 of 10 from the field and also had 12 points.

SIUE would outscore the Blue Demons 9-2 over the final three minutes of the game. DePaul's 10-point lead at halftime would hold up as the final margin of victory.

"It is a great learning experience playing a quality opponent on the road. We've got a really quick turnaround to Sunday for another good opponent so we have to recover and move forward," said Levens.

SIUE travels to Fort Wayne, Ind., for a 2 p.m. ET contest Sunday against IPFW.

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