Rosary stifles DePaul

Rosary accomplished a couple goals Thursday night when it hosted DePaul Prep in GCAC White action in Aurora.

Coach Phil VanBogaert wanted to get everyone on the team playing time. And after letting a game get away against St. Joseph earlier this week, he wanted to get a win.

The Royals (9-8, 4-2) did just that, shaking off a slow start by getting points from eight different players in a 36-25 victory.

"We played everybody tonight," the first-year coach said. "That was our game plan tonight. We're going to get everybody in. Make sure everybody feels comfortable. Going into the tournaments we've go to have everybody ready."

It was a tough shooting night for both teams. Rosary made 23.9 percent (11 of 46) from the field and 42.3 (11 of 26) at the line.

DePaul struggled even more at 20 percent from the field (8-40) and 33 at the line (5-15).

The Rams (9-9, 0-7) missed all seven of their shots from the field in the opening quarter yet still led 5-4 after Rosary went 1 for 10.

Rosary's top scorers Jenna Hernandez and Lauren Smith didn't play in that opening quarter, and their return in the second sparked the team. Hernandez sank a 3-pointer and Smith scored inside to put the Royals ahead to stay at 9-8. Smith got to the foul line 6 times in the second quarter with aggressive moves inside, helping Rosary grab a 17-13 halftime lead.

Hernandez connected on another 3 early in the third quarter as Rosary extended its lead to 24-13. DePaul never got closer than 8 points the rest of the game.

"At times they didn't play real well and it was kind of ugly to watch but part of it is the cohesiveness wasn't there because I'm throwing a lot of players in," VanBogaert said. "We have to get used to playing with everybody."

Hernandez scored a game-high 10 points. Smith and Riley McCue both added 8.

With 3 steals each, Caitlyn Unruh, Sophia Kramer and Audrey Fisher all played a part in Rosary forcing 23 turnovers.

"The kids are starting to buy into what we are teaching," VanBogaert said. "And they have got to have fun. This is a team still searching to get confidence. Once we get confidence we've got a good team. We've got a lot of balance."