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DePaul coach Bruno's connections to a week of triumph, tragedy

It's been a week of extremes in women's college basketball.

Connecticut hit yet another high point in setting the all-time record for consecutive victories in college basketball, women or men. In defeating SMU last weekend, the Huskies won their 91st straight game, which topped their own 90-game streak set from 2008 to 2010.

The top-ranked Huskies, who have won four NCAA national titles in a row, haven't lost a game since Stanford beat them in overtime in November of 2014.

Of course, earlier last week, Northwestern suffered the most unimaginable loss possible.

Sophomore guard Jordan Hankins was found dead in her dorm room in Evanston, a suicide by hanging.

DePaul women's coach Doug Bruno felt the emotions of both occasions as strongly as anyone. He is a close, longtime friend of both Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma and Northwestern coach Joe McKeown.

"Teams have tough seasons with injuries or other things, like we are this season with three of our top players out with injury, but there is nothing that can compare to how tough it is for a program to lose a valued teammate," Bruno said. "I talked with Joe about 10 to 12 hours after it happened. It's just so tough and no coach is ever prepared to handle that."

"I've just tried to stay in touch with Joe to see if he needs anything."

Bruno also tries to stay in touch with his own players as much as possible. He wants to know his players inside and out, and he wants to communicate with them off the floor frequently so that he has a pulse on their moods and personalities, and can better spot potential problems.

"As a coach at the college level, you find yourself acting like a surrogate parent," Bruno said. "You don't want to smother your players, because they are in college and they are supposed to learn on their own. They're supposed to have wings.

"But at the same time, there's got to be tough love. And we want to be in communication with them. Our players are required to check in every day in our office before noon, just to let us know that they are OK, just so that we can talk with them and spend time with them. And when a player comes in, I don't care what we're doing or who we're on the phone with, everything stops."

Bruno was not on the phone with Auriemma last week. But he did make sure to send his best wishes via text. Bruno has been an assistant coach for Auriemma for the last two U.S. women's Olympic basketball teams, which won gold medals at the London and Rio Games.

"Part of the reason Geno is so successful is that he doesn't spend a lot of time chit-chatting on the phone during the season," Bruno said with a laugh. "He's got the confidence that comes with greatness, but he also rolls up his sleeves every day and goes to work. He and his staff go to work every day as if they are in last place.

"What (Connecticut) has done with the streak is amazing. They have played the toughest competition in the country. Some people like to bash the streak and just say that it's because the rest of us are no good. That's not it at all. Once you create excellence like Geno has created, it's hard to catch it. Connecticut is just that good. I've seen it, I've coached with Geno. I know how good he is and he has made that program great."

Old rivals

Speaking of DePaul, the Blue Demons have a big game on Saturday in Lincoln Park, hosting rival Marquette.

The Marquette women went through some lean years recently, but the Golden Eagles are turning things around and hoping to make the DePaul-Marquette rivalry great again.

DePaul, despite being down three starters, including Big East preseason player of the year Jessica January (broken finger), is ranked No. 19 in the country and is 16-4 overall and 8-0 in the Big East.

Marquette, which relies heavily on a core of talented sophomores and freshmen, is 15-4 and 6-2 in the Big East.

Tip-off Saturday at McGrath-Phillips Arena is at 7 p.m.

• Follow Patricia on Twitter at @babcockmcgraw.

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