No. 12 DePaul 111, Appalachian St. 64

12/30/2007 10:39 PM

SAN DIEGO (AP) -Deirdre Naughton scored 17 of her 23 points in the first half to lead No. 12 DePaul to a 111-64 rout of Appalachian State Sunday night in the consolation game of the Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam.

DePaul (11-1) rebounded from its first loss, a 91-81 loss to No. 19 Texas on Friday night, to record the 600th victory in the school's 34-year history. DePaul scored its season-high for points and went over the 100-point mark for the second time in three games.

``After the Texas game the other night, we had to come out and demonstrate we could play better than we did,'' said DePaul coach Doug Bruno.

The Blue Demons jumped out to an 11-0 lead to start the game and used their running game for numerous fastbreak baskets.

Naughton scored 17 points as DePaul took a 62-42 halftime lead, a season high for first-half points and the seventh most first-half points in school history.

Naughton hit four of five 3-pointers in the half and the Blue Demons went 9-for-16 from 3-point range. DePaul shot 56.1 percent (23-for-41) from the floor in the half.

``A lot of our fastbreak shots start with our defense,'' said Naughton. ``We feed off our defense. We all understand that''

Appalachian State (2-10) made a brief run to cut the lead to 26-18 at the 10:12 mark. But Naughton scored 11 points as part of a 13-2 run over the next 1 1/2 minutes to put DePaul ahead 39-20 with 8:22 left.

``We were overmatched,'' said Appalachian State coach Adrienne Shuler. ``They've got good players, they've got size inside and tremendous ability outside. They made us pay for every mistake.''

Naughton started the run with a 3-pointer. After Appalachian State scored, DePaul's China Threatt had a rebound basket. Naughton then scored on three straight possessions - a 3-point play, a pair of free throws, and a 3-point shot out of the corner.

Caprice Smith scored 18 points while Allie Quigley and Natasha Williams each scored 14 points for DePaul, which bounced back from its worst shooting game of the season in the loss to Texas. The Blue Demons finished by making 54.4 percent from the field.

``Every game someone else steps up,'' said Quigley, DePaul's leading scorer at 20.2 points. ``It lets you know that everyone can contribute.''

Sam Ramirez led the Mountaineers with 19 points, hitting 7 of 11 shots. Brittany Mixon added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

DePaul hosts No. 3 Tennessee Wednesday in its final game before the start of Big East Conference play.

``They're the defending national champions with the best player in the country,'' Bruno said. ``This will be a measuring stick for us.''