# 2016–17 DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team

The 2016–17 DePaul Blue Demons women's basketball team represented DePaul University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Blue Demons, led by 31st year head coach Doug Bruno, played their home games at the McGrath–Phillips Arena as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 27–8, 16–2 in Big East play to win the Big East regular season title. They advanced to the championship game of the Big East women's tournament where they lost to Marquette. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Northern Iowa in the first round before losing to Mississippi State in the second round.
This was expected to be the Blue Demons' final season at McGrath–Phillips Arena. DePaul plans to move the women's team off campus, though still within its home city of Chicago, into the new Wintrust Arena, currently under construction at the McCormick Place convention center. The arena will also become home to the DePaul men's team.
In the February 3 game against St. John's, senior guard Brooke Schulte scored her 1,000th career point.

## Previous season

The Blue Devils finished the 2015–16 season 27–9, 16–2 in Big East play to win the Big East regular season title. They advanced to the semifinals of the Big East women's tournament where they lost to St. John's. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, where they defeated James Madison in the first round, Louisville in the second round before losing to Oregon State in the sweet sixteen.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/01/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 21 | Saint Xavier | W 124–67 | | McGrath-Phillips Arena Chicago, IL |
| 11/04/2016* 6:00 pm | No. 21 | St. Francis (IL) | W 126–56 | | McGrath-Phillips Arena Chicago, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 8:00 pm | No. 21 | Appalachian State Maggie Dixon Classic semifinals | W 99–58 | 1–0 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,055) Chicago, IL |
| 11/12/2016* 8:00 pm | No. 21 | UAB Maggie Dixon Classic championship | W 90–80 | 2–0 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,055) Chicago, IL |
| 11/19/2016* 7:00 pm | No. 20 | Northwestern | W 89–66 | 3–0 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,342) Chicago, IL |
| 11/25/2016* 12:30 pm | No. 18 | vs. WKU Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | W 77–69 | 4–0 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/26/2016* 4:00 pm | No. 18 | vs. No. 5 Baylor Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals | L 72–104 | 4–1 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 11/27/2016* 4:00 pm | No. 18 | vs. No. 11 Syracuse Gulf Coast Showcase 3rd place game | W 108–84 | 5–1 | Germain Arena Estero, FL |
| 12/01/2016* 6:00 pm, CSNC+/ESPN3 | No. 15 | at No. 2 Connecticut | L 46–91 | 5–2 | Gampel Pavilion (6,716) Storrs, CT |
| 12/05/2016* 12:00 pm | No. 16 | Prairie View A&M | W 94–62 | 6–2 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (3,001) Chicago, IL |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm, CSNC+ | No. 16 | No. 2 Notre Dame | L 61–75 | 6–3 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (3,001) Chicago, IL |
| 12/15/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | at Temple | L 74–84 | 6–4 | McGonigle Hall (721) Philadelphia, PA |
| 12/18/2016* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 17 | at Loyola–Chicago | W 107–46 | 7–4 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (321) Chicago, IL |
| 12/20/2016* 8:00 pm | | UT Martin | W 100–68 | 8–4 | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,122) Chicago, IL |
| Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/28/2016 1:00 pm, BEDN | | at Georgetown | W 76–53 | 9–4 (1–0) | McDonough Gymnasium (421) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/30/2016 1:00 pm, BEDN | | at Villanova | W 80–50 | 10–4 (2–0) | The Pavilion (635) Villanova, PA |
| 01/02/2017 1:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 23 | Providence | W 61–56 | 11–4 (2–0) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (1,977) Chicago, IL |
| 01/04/2017 7:00 pm, BEDN | No. 23 | Creighton | W 79–65 | 12–4 (4–0) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,082) Chicago, IL |
| 01/08/2017 1:00 pm, BEDN | No. 23 | at Seton Hall | W 96–65 | 13–4 (5–0) | Walsh Gymnasium (850) South Orange, NJ |
| 01/10/2017 6:00 pm, BEDN | No. 21 | at St. John's | W 78–66 | 14–4 (6–0) | Carnesecca Arena (565) Queens, NY |
| 01/13/2017 7:00 pm, BEDN/CSNC+ | No. 21 | Butler | W 100–69 | 15–4 (7–0) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,153) Chicago, IL |
| 01/15/2017 2:00 pm, BEDN | No. 21 | Xavier | W 85–69 | 16–4 (8–0) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,311) Chicago, IL |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 pm, BEDN/CSNC+ | No. 19 | Marquette | L 101–102 $^{OT}$ | 16–5 (8–1) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,481) Chicago, IL |
| 01/27/2017 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 21 | at Creighton | W 60–56 | 17–5 (9–1) | D. J. Sokol Arena (1,313) Omaha, NE |
| 01/29/2017 11:00 am, BEDN | No. 21 | at Providence | W 64–55 | 18–5 (10–1) | Alumni Hall (578) Providence, RI |
| 02/03/2017 7:00 pm, BEDN/CSNC+ | No. 17 | St. John's | W 54–51 | 19–5 (11–1) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,312) Chicago, IL |
| 02/05/2017 2:00 pm, BEDN/CSNC | No. 17 | Seton Hall | W 86–60 | 20–5 (12–1) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,006) Chicago, IL |
| 02/10/2017 6:00 pm, BEDN/CSNC | No. 18 | at Xavier | W 70–43 | 21–5 (13–1) | Cintas Center (2,770) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/12/2017 12:00 pm, BEDN | No. 18 | at Butler | W 92–62 | 22–5 (14–1) | Hinkle Fieldhouse (587) Indianapolis, IN |
| 02/19/2017 1:00 pm, FS2 | No. 17 | at Marquette | L 81–96 | 22–6 (14–2) | Al McGuire Center (1,733) Milwaukee, WI |
| 02/24/2017 7:00 pm, BEDN | No. 19 | Villanova | W 77–50 | 23–6 (15–2) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,368) Chicago, IL |
| 02/26/2016 12:00 pm, FS1 | No. 19 | Georgetown | W 79–70 | 24–6 (16–2) | McGrath-Phillips Arena (2,553) Chicago, IL |
| Big East Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2017 6:00 pm, FS2 | (1) No. 18 | vs. (8) Seton Hall Quarterfinals | W 92–60 | 25–6 | Al McGuire Center Milwaukee, WI |
| 03/06/2017 5:30 pm, FS1 | (1) No. 17 | vs. (5) St. John's Semifinals | W 59–45 | 26–6 | Al McGuire Center (2,511) Milwaukee, WI |
| 03/07/2017 8:00 pm, FS1 | (1) No. 17 | vs. (3) Marquette Championship Game | L 78–86 | 26–7 | Al McGuire Center (3,166) Milwaukee, WI |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/17/2017* 11:00 am, ESPN2 | (7 O) No. 19 | vs. (10 O) Northern Iowa First Round | W 88–67 | 27–7 | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS |
| 03/19/2017* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | (7 O) No. 19 | at (2 O) No. 7 Mississippi State Second Round | L 71–92 | 27–8 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,035) Starkville, MS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. O=Oklahoma City Region. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |