Jan. 18, 2003

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Game Time

Duquesne and Fordham meet for the first and only time Sunday afternoon since the Dukes are in the West and Fordham in the East Division of the Atlantic 10. The Dukes look to sweep the week with a second straight win while the Rams are hoping to bounce back from a 72-59 loss to visiting George Washington this past Wednesday.

The Series

Duquesne holds a 6-2 lead in the all-time series with Fordham, a series which began in 1996 when the Rams first joined the Atlantic 10. Duquesne has won the past three outings and stands 3-0 when hosting the Rams. The last time Duquesne lost to Fordham was Feb. 4, 2000 with a 70-56 loss in New York. Coach Durkin is also 6-2 vs. the Rams

About the Dukes

Duquesne saw an end to its five-game losing streak and captured its first league win with a 61-52 victory over visiting La Salle Thursday night. Two Dukes average double figure scoring as Candace Futrell nets 19.1 points per game followed by Beth Friday with 14.3 points. Friday leads the Dukes with 10.7 rebounds per game as well. Shiri Sharon adds a team-best 6.4 assists per game. Head Coach Dan Durkin is closing in on his 125th career victory as he needs just two wins to hit the mark.

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

About the Rams

Fordham fell to 10-6 overall, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10 after a 72-59 loss to visiting George Washington Wednesday night. The loss was just their second in the past five outings. The Rams are 3-3 on the road to date, but are 0-2 when competing in league play. Fordham is led by Mobolaji Akiode with 17.2 points per game and Beth Ann Dickinson with 10.2 markers a contest. Kyshaw Mack leads the squad with 7.3 rebounds a game.

The Last Game ... Dukes vs. La Salle

Duquesne took a 61-52 victory over visiting La Salle in an Atlantic 10 women's basketball match-up Thursday night at the Palumbo Center. Candace Futrell led the game with 19 points followed by Beth Friday with 15 points and a season- and game-best 17 rebounds for her 42nd career-double double. Shiri Sharon led the Dukes and tied the game lead with six assists. Jill Marano and Kat Foley paced La Salle with 12 points each.

The first half saw three ties and lead changes before Nicole Sinclair capped off an 11-2 run for a 19-12 Duquesne lead at 9:47. Aiga Bautre extended the Dukes' lead to a 25- 16 edge at 6:34 but a 10-3 La Salle drive cut the lead to a 26-24 Duquesne margin with 3:45 ticking. The Explorers then out-scored the Dukes 7-2 and grabbed a 31-28 edge with :36 on the clock. Omega Harrington connected on the one-and-one bonus at :31 before a steal and fast break lay-up from Futrell at :04 regained the lead at 32-31 at the half.

Duquesne sprang to a 10-2 scoring drive to open the second frame for a 42-33 advantage at 14:20 and kept La Salle within a six-point reach as they led 42-36 at 13:06. The Dukes held the Explorers scoreless for 5:30 and rattled off 11 unanswered points to take their largest lead of the game, 53-36, at 7:49 on a Futrell three-point goal. La Salle out-scored Duquesne 16-4 over the next 6:28 to get the score down to 58-52 grasp as 1:21 remained. The Dukes connected on three of four free throws to end the contest and secure the win.

The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Dukes and avenged a 67-55 loss in the Jan. 3 Atlantic 10 opener at La Salle. The Dukes held a convincing 46-29 advantage on the boards.

Last Time vs. Fordham

Duquesne took a 62-59 decision at Fordham Feb. 17, 2002 behind Shiri Sharon's 16 points and seven assists. Candace Futrell added 13 points in the win as well. Fordham was led by Patty Williams and Lara Hanson with 14 points each. Williams led the game with 13 rebounds.

Duquesne opened the game on a 14-2 run holding Fordham to just one field goal in the first seven minutes of action. Fordham saw its closest reach of a lead with an 11-17 deficit with 9:12 to go. The Dukes then grabbed a 23-13 edge at the 5:10 mark and never looked back. Duquesne led 28-18 at the half.

Fordham opened the second frame hitting back-to-back threes to cut their deficit to 28-24 at the 16:54 mark. Duquesne was held scoreless for the first 4:15 before Beth Friday hit two free throws for a 30-24 lead. Nikolina Pender extended the Dukes' lead to a 34-24 edge on a trey as 12:57 remained. A 15-5 Dukes' scoring drive gave the visitor a 54-40 lead with 4:34 to go. Fordham then executed a 13-1 run to get within two at 55-53 as 2:09 showed. Sharon hit three of four free throws for a 58-53 lead with 1:09 ticking, but the Rams hit a jumper, stole the inbound pass and connected on one of two free throws to bring the score back to 58-56 at :47. It would be a two-point battle thereafter. Fordham's Williams' missed a lay-up at :04, but was fouled and connected on one of two free throws for a 60-59 Duquesne edge. Sharon would make two free throws with :03 ticking to make the final 62-59 score. Williams' three-point attempt fell short as time expired.

Friday the First ... And Fourth

Beth Friday became the first Duquesne women's basketball player to grab 1,000 career rebounds with her second board at the 15:13 mark at Dayton Jan. 12. She posted a game-high 11 that Sunday and then followed it with 17 boards in Thursday's win over La Salle to put her total at 1,026 over her not-yet-complete four seasons. She also has tallied 1,225 points, which gives her the distinction to be the first Duquesne and just the fourth Atlantic 10 player to register 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

Friday joins George Washington's Darlene Saar (1,809 pts, 1,139 rbs) who competed from 1992 to 1995 and Rutgers' Sue Wicks (2,655 pts, 1,135 rbs) who played from 1985 to 1988. Jen Butler of UMass hit the mark this year and had 1,238 points and 1,119 rebounds entering the week.

The Pittsburgh native quickly took over the top of DU's career rebounding list six games into the season. With 922 boards entering the Towson game, Friday needed just seven rebounds to surpass Kathy Ridilla's mark of 928. Ridilla, a Duquesne Hall of Fame inductee, also posted 1,312 points from 1986-89.

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. And through 15 games this season, the Upper St. Clair High School grad has grabbed 160 rebounds.

Currently, Friday is in seventh place among the Dukes' all-time scorers. with 1,225 points entering the contest. She needs 67 points to join Becky Oglvee in sixth place; Oglvee poured in 1,292 points (1983-86).

Este-Shehu Makes Return

Senior guard Khalihah Este-Shehu made her collegiate return in the Atlantic 10 opener Jan. 3. She saw 14 minutes of action and recorded three rebounds, two points and a steal. She netted four points as she returned to the starting lineup for Nikolina Pender vs. Vanderbilt.

Este-Shehu was redshirted last season after a pre-season ACL injury. She had been sidelined this year with ankle problems to begin the campaign. Este-Shehu has played in four contests so far and is averaging 3.5 points and 2.5 boards.

Futrell Returns

Junior Candace Futrell, the team's leading scorer, had been sidelined after an ankle injury she suffered in the first half of the Robert Morris game on Nov. 30. She made her return Jan. 10 at Xavier, hardly missing a beat. The 5-9 guard came off the bench to net 17 points shooting 7-15 from the field and was 2-2 from the free throw line. She added three rebounds and an assist, before fouling out. Futrell was the top scorer at Dayton and this past Thursday against La Salle and is averaging a team-high 19.1 points per game.

She Can Dish it Out

Shiri Sharon leads the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with her 6.43 assists per game average. She dished out 12 assists in the Dukes' loss at Xavier marking a career high and a league single-game best. It was also the first time since Jan. 15, 1994 that a Duquesne player recorded 12 or more assists. The DU single-game mark is 15 set by Michelle Bouldin back on that date in 1994. She also recorded 10 assists vs. James Madison. Her season total is 90 entering tonight's contest. She stands sixth all-time at Duquesne in just her third season and is just 12 assists shy of tieing the current sixth place holder, Kathy Folk, who contributed 421 during her career from 1979-82. Sharon also has 642 career points.

Korie Hlede To Enter Sports Hall of Fame

Korie Hlede, who virtually rewrote Duquesne's women's basketball records book from 1995-98, is one of three student-athletes who will inducted into Duquesne's Sports Hall of Fame.

A 1998 Women's Basketball News Service First Team All-American, she was tabbed the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in 1995, A-10 Player of the Year in 1996 and 1998 and is Duquesne's all-time leading scorer with 2,631 points. Hlede is also DU's career assist leader with 570.

She is also second all-time in Atlantic 10 scoring, was third in the nation in scoring in 1998 and recorded the first triple-double in the program's history with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists versus Cleveland State.

The Croatian native, who was the fourth overall pick in the 1998 WNBA draft, completed her fifth season in the U.S. women's professional league this past summer with the New York Liberty. She also is the only DU women's basketball player to have her jersey retired.

Hlede, who was selected in her first year of eligibility, will be honored at halftime of the Dukes' men's basketball game versus La Salle on Saturday, Feb. 8th along with Dan DeFelice (football '81) and Katie Michalski (volleyball '96).

Next Up

Duquesne travels to St. Bonaventure (4-12, 1-4 A-10) on Thursday, Jan. 23 for a 7:00 pm Atlantic 10 tip-off at the Reilly Center.