Oct. 11, 2002

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Here's a quick look at Duquesne's 2002-03 women's basketball team which can begin full practices on Saturday. Under NCAA rules, October 12, 2002, is the first day Coach Dan Durkin's Dukes can begin preparations for the season opener against Ohio State in 42 days at the Palumbo Center.

Highlighting the Dukes attack will be:

• Senior forward Beth Friday (13.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg) earned first team All-Atlantic 10 honors last season and became the 15th Duke to reach 1,000 career points. She has 1,010 points entering the season and is on track to become the first 1,000-point / 1,000-rebound performer.
• Junior guard Candace Futrell, the Dukes' top returning scorer with 17.9 ppg, was named the Atlantic 10's Most Improved Player. The A-10's second-leading scorer was tabbed a second team All-Conference pick in 2002.
• Junior guard Shiri Sharon (9.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg) led the Dukes and was second in the A-10 in assists per game with her 6.6 average.
• Senior guard Nikolina Pender rounds out the returning starters and is one of the Dukes' top three-point shooters.
• And last but definitely not least, DU welcomes back a fifth starter in senior guard Khalihah Este-Shehu who was redshirted last season due to a knee injury. Este-Shehu led the 2001 squad in scoring with her 16.0 ppg average.

Click on the link above for more on the Dukes roster and the complete schedule. This information was provided at last weekend's annual "Meet the Dukes," a homecoming tradition on the Bluff. For ticket information, please click here.