Morris, Held rally No. 24 DePaul women past Loyola 76-67

CHICAGO - Lexi Held scored 10 of her 17 points in the last four minutes, sparking a late rally as No. 24 DePaul defeated Loyola of Chicago 76-67 on Sunday.

Sonya Morris led the Blue Demons (2-2) with 26 points, hitting 7 of 8 free throws and pulling down six rebounds. Deja Church added 15 points.

The game between the rivals on Chicago’s North Side saw eight ties and 10 lead changes. Loyola entered the fourth quarter with a 53-47 lead but Morris turned that into a 60-59 DePaul lead after three straight free throws with 4:37 remaining.

Held stepped up with a drive, buried back-to-back 3-pointers around a defensive rebound and added two free throws to put DePaul up by 13 with 1:09 remaining.

Morris finished the scoring for DePaul with four more at the line.

Maya Chandler led the Ramblers (1-1) with 14 points, Allison Day added 11 with nine rebounds and Ellie Rice scored 10 with seven boards and six assists.

Loyola hadn’t played in two weeks and DePaul, which last played Dec. 4, had two Big East games postponed and another game cancelled last week.