Call it unfortunate the DePaul women’s basketball team had to play its first game as a ranked team since 1997 on the road against No. 5 Tennessee.
Call it plain bad luck the Blue Demons faced the Lady Vols on a night when their coach was going for an historic victory.
“Tennessee’s a tough team anyway, but it’s always going to be tougher when it’s a milestone win like this,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said Tuesday night after the No. 25 Blue Demons fell victim to cold shooting early and an inspired Lady Vols team on its way to a 76-57 loss.
The victory, in front of 8,861 at Thompson-Boling Arena, was the 800th of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt’s 29-year career.
Tennessee (12-3) had plenty of time to plan its celebration after an 18-0 run put DePaul (12-4) down 36-12 with five minutes left in the first half. The Blue Demons trailed by 25 at halftime after shooting just 25 percent from the field and being outrebounded 23-13.
The one bright spot for DePaul, which fell to 0-13 all-time against Tennessee, was the play of 6-foot-2-inch freshman Khara Smith, who earned her fifth double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Summitt, 50, is the fourth Division I coach to record 800 victories (800-161) and the first women’s coach to accomplish the feat, three games ahead of Texas’ Jody Conradt (797).
