Dec. 9, 2002

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The Game

Both teams are back in action after non-conference road bouts this past Saturday. Duquesne (5-1), who grabbed their second road win Saturday, looks to extend their winning streak to six while Toledo has its sights set on their third straight win after a 70-61 victory at Youngstown State Saturday as well.

Helping the Community

Today's game with Toledo is Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank Night. Anyone who brings a nonperishable food item donation receives free admission into the game.

The Series

Toledo holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Duquesne. They first met during the 1999-2000 season with the Dukes falling 52-57 at the Palumbo Center. The Dukes traveled to Toledo the following season and lost 87-53.

Friday Takes over All-Time Career List

Needing just seven rebounds entering the Towson game, senior Beth Friday become Duquesne's all-time leading rebounder grabbing 11 boards in the Dukes' 41-38 victory vs. the Tigers this past Saturday. Friday, who now has 933 rebounds, surpassed Kathy Ridilla's mark of 928 set during her 1986-89 career with Duquesne.

Friday has rewritten the rebounding records since coming to the Bluff and holds the single-season mark (298) and each class' mark with 297 as a freshman, 298 as a sophomore and 271 last season as a junior. (more below)

^ Redshirted 1999-2000 season
+ Redshirted 2001-2002 season

About the Dukes

Duquesne won its fifth-straight with a 41-38 victory at Towson this past Saturday. The Dukes, who are without leading scorer Candace Futrell (20.5 ppg) due to an injury, are led by Beth Friday (12.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg) and Shiri Sharon (10.2 ppg, 6.3 apg). Duquesne is 3-1 at home to date as well. DU returns four starters from last year's 14-15 squad.

About the Rockets

Toledo returns two starters from last year's 17-11 squad. Toledo improved to 4-1 on the season with a 70-61 victory at Youngstown State Saturday led by Tia Davis with a career- and game-best 25 points. Teresa Kahle added 16 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.

Davis leads the Rockets with 19.8 ppg while Karin Hoogendam posts a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game. Toledo is 2-0 on the road so far this season.

Toledo's only loss of the season was a 73-61 defeat to another A10 foe, Massachusetts, on Sunday, December 1st on the Rockets' home court. Their other victories were over Michigan State, Iona and IUPU-Fort Wayne.

Duquesne's Last Game

The Dukes improved to 5-1 overall and won their fifth-straight with a 41-38 victory at Towson Saturday afternoon. It wasn't the Dukes prettiest game of the season as their last lead was 4-3 before getting ahead for good at 39-38 with :07 remaining when Shiri Sharon dished an nice inside pass to Beth Friday for the lay-in.

Sharon led the game with a season-best 18 points while Friday grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds and added 13 points for her 36th career double-double. Friday became the Dukes' all-time leading rebounder with her seventh board with :50 remaining in the first half.

After the Dukes' first goal, the game saw nearly eight minutes of scoreless action as both squads played poorly as missed shots and turnovers seemed to be the norm. Towson took a 3-2 edge on a three-point goal at the 11:54 mark and followed suit with a 12-4 run to take a 16-8 lead at the 2:42 mark. Aiga Bautre hit a three-point goal at 2:18 to narrow the deficit to 16-11 and Nicole Sinclair sank both free throws at 1:40 to bring it to 16-13, but Towson's jumper at 0:02 gave the host an 18-13 lead at the half.

Towson went up by seven points (24-17) five minutes into the second frame before the Dukes got within one at 26-25 reach with 10:58 on the clock. The Tigers out-scored the Dukes 8-2 for a 34-27 lead with 5:47 remaining. Duquesne got within one-point three times afterward with the last being 37-38 at 0:59 on a lay-up by Friday. Erin Wehrle's three-point attempt with 0:11 ticking hit the rim and was rebounded by the Dukes to keep possession under the goal. Sharon's assist to Friday then sealed the victory for the Red & Blue. Towson's Mia Chapman, who led the Tigers with 15 points, drove the distance and saw her lay-up fall short at :07 to keep the Dukes alive as Towson knocked the ball out of bounds for the Duquesne possession. Chapman fouled Sharon who connected on both shots of the one & one bonus for the 41-38 final.

Last Time vs. Toledo

Duquesne fell 87-53 at Toldedo Dec. 3, 2000 to move to 3-3 on the season. Jaime Vander Zanden led the Dukes with 13 points while Beth Friday added 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds. The Dukes chipped away at a 28-13 deficit to come within a 27-32 reach on a 14-4 run and trailed 37-31 at the break. Duquesne closed the gap to a 37-35 early in frame two, but the Rockets executed a 16-4 run for a 63-49 advantage and the lead for good. The Red & Blue got into early foul trouble which resulted in three players fouling out. Toledo notched 30 of its points off turnovers. Duquesne shot .320 from the field and was 0-10 from three-point range.

Comparatively Speaking

Here is how Duquesne and Toledo compare statistically.

Record Broke ... Friday All-Time Rebounder

Beth Friday quickly took over the top of the career rebounding list six games into the season. With 922 boards entering the Towson game, Friday needed just seven boards to surpass Kathy Ridilla's mark of 928. Ridilla, a Duquesne Hall of Fame inductee, also posted 1,312 points from 1986-89. Friday is expected to be the first to hit 1,000 boards and points at Duquesne. She is 9th all-time with 1,087 points entering tonight's contest.

Friday will also challenge Ridilla's senior class rebounding mark of 279 boards. Thus far, Friday has bettered each class' rebounding title as she grabbed 297 as a freshman, 298 as a sophomore and 271 last year as a junior.

Futrell Sidelined

Junior Candace Futrell, the team's leading scorer, has been sidelined after an ankle injury she suffered in the first half of the Robert Morris game on Nov. 30. She is expected to be out two weeks returning in time for Atlantic 10 play.

2003 Atlantic 10 Pre-Season Honors

The Dukes' Beth Friday and Candace Futrell have been named to the 2003 Pre-Season All-Atlantic 10 team as voted upon by the league head coaches. Friday was tabbed a first team All-Conference pick and to its All-Defensive team while Futrell was lauded as a second team All-Conference honoree.

2003 Early Signing

Head Coach Dan Durkin as signed "Loui" Hall (Masontown, Pa./ Albert Gallatin) to a National Letter of Intent for the 2003-04 season. Hall, a 6-0 small forward, averaged 26.4 points and 12.1 rebounds as a junior leading her Albert Gallatin squad to a 19-4 overall mark. She netted 30 or more points in five games last year and shot 81% from the free throw line. Hall helped lead her prep squad to the 2000 and 2001 WPIAL sectional championships and enters her senior season with 1,651 career points. She is looking to better the school's current all-time scoring record of 1,938 points, held by her sister Shauntai, who played at Penn State and Rutgers.

Hall is already off to a strong start in her senior campaign. She was named the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Girl's High School Athlete of the Week on December 5, 2002, as she led the Colonials to a 2-1 record at the Nothing But the Best Tournament at Community College of Allegheny County South. In the three games, Hall scored 85 points and grabbed 60 rebounds.

Next Up

Duquesne has an 11-day break for finals before traveling to West Virginia on Sat. Dec. 21 for a 7:00 pm tip-off.