
DePaul’s women had an off night shooting but still earned a Big East championship game berth with a 58-55 victory over Villanova on Monday.
The No. 2-seeded Blue Demons (25-7) will face top seed Seton Hall (28-4) in Tuesday’s title game at Allstate Arena.
DePaul forward Megan Podkowa collected 22 points and 10 rebounds — her third double-double of the season — while Brittany Hrynko had 13 points and Chanise Jenkins added 11.
Guard Caroline Coyer scored a game-high 26 points while Emily Leer added 12 for the Wildcats (19-13).
DePaul tried to put its typically prolific 3-point shooting game up against mirror-image Villanova. Instead the teams were a combined 9-for-36 on 3-pointers.
DePaul led 25-21 at half and nursed a narrow lead through much of the second half as both teams instead worked inside.
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The Blue Demons entered the tournament’s semifinal game ranked second in the country with 10.7 3-pointers per game while the Wildcats were fifth at 9.2.
DePaul had hit a school record 332 3-pointers entering Monday. Hrynko, the Big East player of the year, led with 83 followed by Jenkins (51) and Podkowa (37).
Seton Hall beat St. John’s 72-60 in an earlier semifinal.