Bekelja, Held combine for 43 points as No. 19 DePaul beats St. John's

CHICAGO (AP) — Dee Bekelja scored 22 points and Lexi Held had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists to help No. 19 DePaul beat St. John's 101-84 on Wednesday night.

All five starters for DePaul (7-3, 4-1 Big East) scored in double figures. Deja Church added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Jorie Allen and Sonya Morris each scored 17 points. Morris also had nine assists and Allen grabbed seven rebounds.

DePaul opened the game on an 11-2 run with scoring from five different players, and led 26-14 after the first quarter. Church, Held and Allen combined for 35 points in the first half to help the Blue Demons lead 51-31.

Bekelja scored nine points in the first minutes of the third quarter as DePaul went ahead 65-39. The Blue Demons led by at least 14 points the entire second half.

Qadashah Hoppie scored a career-high 28 points with six 3-pointers for St. John's (4-6, 1-4). Kadaja Bailey also set a career-high with 22 points.

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