Riding a three-game and facing the prospect of upcoming games with highly ranked Louisville and Notre Dame, injury-ravaged No. 23 DePaul treated struggling Seton Hall as a must-win.
The Blue Demons got it, barely.
Jasmine Penny scored 19 points and No. 23 DePaul avoided its longest losing streak since 2003-04 by holding off Seton Hall 71-59 Saturday, despite a career-best 21 points by the Pirates Terry Green.
''We've had a rough past three weeks so we came into this game just trying to get the wins we can get,'' said DePaul junior guard Anna Martin, who added 18 points.
Katherine Harry had 13 points and 13 rebounds and freshman guard Brittany Hrynko hit two long 3-pointers late and also finished with 13 points as the Blue Demons (16-6, 4-4 Big East) snapped a three-game slide and handed Seton Hall (7-15, 0-8) its 10th straight loss.
The losing streak matched DePaul's longest since 2007-08, while the Pirates' slide ties their longest since the end of the 07-08 season.
''This is a good group of players,'' DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. ''What DePaul does is usually beat the teams it's supposed to beat and then take a few shots at some people we're not supposed to beat. We really think we should be sitting here now at 19-3. We think we've given some away. But Seton Hall was a game we had to win, because we are looking at (No. 14) Louisville on Tuesday and (No. 2) Notre Dame the following Sunday.''
Two of the losses in the current slide were to No. 3 Connecticut and No. 11 Rutgers, a game in which DePaul blew a 16-point lead with 10 minutes to play.
.''This was a very hard and emotional game at the end of three games like that,'' Bruno said. ''So for these guys to come out here and have the resolve is great.''
DePaul nearly gave this one away. It built a 13-point lead early in the second half, only to see the Pirates cut the deficit to 52-51 on a layup by Jasmine Crew with 7:06 to play.
Martin missed two shots at the other end before Megan Rogowski was fouled missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance. The ball took a high carom and Harry got the rebound and scored for a 54-51 lead. After Alexis Brown missed two shots at the other end, Hrynko sandwiched her two long 3-pointers around one by Green for a 60-54 lead.
Green's final 3-pointer got Seton Hall within 62-57 but the Blue Demons finished the game with a 9-2 run.
''Over the last few weeks, Providence, South Florida, Rutgers, we've played well in the second half and kind of let up. When they started coming back I think a few of us were getting that feeling: `Oh, no, here we go again.' But we really toughed it out and a lot of my teammates stepped up.''
Green scored 18 of her career-high 21 points in the second half for the Pirates, who have lost 21 straight conference games at home.
''With each game, I think I said three games ago, we're right on the cusp,'' said Seton Hall assistant coach Catherine Proto, who filled in for Anne Donovan at the post-game news conference with the coach feeling ill. ''We just need to step over the line. I think once we do, good things will happen with this team. We're 38 minutes, 36 minutes. We need to play the whole 40 minutes and we'll definitely get over that hump.''
Green was the difference for the Pirates in the second half. She hit all seven of 3-pointers in the game, with six coming on the second half. The seven 3-pointers tied a school record set by Debbie Hartnett against Hofstra on Dec. 7, 1988. She is also only the second Big East players to shoot a perfect 7-for-7 from long range in a game, joining Alicia Ratay of Notre Dame, who did it against Rutgers on Feb. 19, 2000.
''If I don't shoot, I'm looking at (sitting) next to coach Proto,'' said Green, whose previous career high was 17 against Drexel in December. ''I was feeling it and my team needed a lift and that's what coach wants me to do when I come off the bench.''
