Feb. 22, 2003

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The Series

Xavier holds a 13-5 lead in the all-time series with the Dukes, which includes a 65-57 win over the Dukes this past January in Ohio. The series began in 1983 and the A-10 rivalry started in 1996 when Xavier joined the league. Last year, the Dukes won 77-56 in Pittsburgh and fell 61-82 in Ohio. Duquesne is 3-6 when hosting the Musketeers. Coach Durkin is 4-10 vs. Xavier.

Game Time

Duquesne looks to snap a three-game losing skid while Xavier is looking to take its fifth-consecutive decision. DU fell to visiting Temple this past Thursday and the Musketeers snagged a 65-45 win over visiting St. Bonaventure on Friday. Xavier ranks second in the West Division of the Atlantic 10 with its 10-4 league mark while the Dukes are fourth with their 6-7 record.

About the Dukes

Duquesne lost its third A-10 game in a row with a 44-77 fall vs. Temple this past Thursday. It marked just the fourth home loss for the Red & Blue.

Candace Futrell continues to lead the Dukes with 18.7 ppg followed by Beth Friday with 14.4 markers and a team-high 10.8 rebounds per contest. Aiga Bautre has a squad-best 42 three-point goals and leads the A-10 with her .500 accuracy from behind the arc. Shiri Sharon's 6.75 assist average is tops in the league as well.

In the Latest NCAA Statistics Released Feb. 17

Junior Shiri Sharon (Jordan Valley, Israel / Ostrovsky) ranks 10th with 6.9 assists per game and senior Beth Friday (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper St. Clair) is 14th with 10.7 rebounds per game.

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

About the Musketeers

Xavier, which has been receiving votes in both Top 25 polls, captured its fourth-straight victory with a 65-45 margin over visiting St. Bonaventure this past Friday. Amy Waugh led the game with 16 points followed closely by Reetta Piipari with 15 markers. Waugh leads the team with 18.3 ppg and 79 three-point goals, both of which stand first in the Atlantic 10. Tara Boothe adds 15.6 ppg and Piipari rounds out the top scorers with a 14.1 per game average. Boothe also adds a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game. As a team Xavier leads the league in free throw pct. (.776) and rebounding defense (34.2).

The Last Game ... Dukes vs. Temple

Duquesne dropped a 77-44 decision to visiting Temple Thursday night at the Palumbo Center. It marks the third-straight loss for the Dukes. Candace Futrell led Duquesne with 16 points while Beth Friday added 10 points and a game-best 13 rebounds for her 47th career doubledouble, 16th this season. Stacey Smalls led Temple and the game with 21 points.

The Dukes held a 15-7 lead at 12:31 on an 11-4 drive and extended their margin to 20-10 on a made free throw by Friday at 10:50. But then a 7-0 run by Temple cut the lead to a 20-17 Duquesne edge with 8:46 remaining. The Dukes answered back with a quick 5-0 run to build a 25-17 lead at 6:05. Temple's 9-1 drive tied the contest for the first time at 26-26. Nikolina Pender hit a bucket at 1:57 to give DU a 28-26 edge, but Temple once again tied the contest (28-28) at :31. The Dukes connected on two for four free throws for a 30-28 lead, but a three-point play by Smalls gave the Owls their first lead at 31-30 at :11 that they would take into the break.

The Dukes were scoreless for the first four minutes of the second frame as Temple extended its lead to a 35-30 edge at 15:54 before the Dukes chipped away at the margin and got within a 37-39 reach on Futrell's three-point goal at 14:35, but would not get closer to a lead. Temple out-scored the Dukes 23-5 over the next 7:38 for a 62-42 lead they would not relinquish. Omega Harrington's three-pointer at 6:57 would mark the last field goal for the Red & Blue. Futrell's two free throws at 4:58 concluded the Dukes' scoring.

Duquesne committed 16 costly second half turnovers, which resulted in 19 Temple points. Duquesne held a 35-33 rebounding edge, but shot .395 (17- 43) for the game to the Owls' .484 (31-64). Temple recorded 15 steals in the contest. Neither team did well from the free throw line as the Dukes hit .438 (13- 22) and Temple .563 (9-16). It was Duquesne's first loss when out-rebounding the opponent.

Last Time vs. Xavier

Duquesne dropped to 7-6, 0-2 in league play with a 65-57 loss at Xavier Jan. 10. It was the fourth straight loss for the Red & Blue. Beth Friday led the Dukes with a season-high 22 points shooting 10-17 from the field and added seven rebounds. Her 22 markers put her at exactly 1,200 points for her career. Candace Futrell made her comeback following a eight-game absence due to an ankle injury netting 17 points on 7-15 shooting while Shiri Sharon dished off a game- and career-best 12 assists in the loss. Her assist total is a single-game best in the Atlantic 10 this season.

Duquesne held a 31-30 lead at the half after overcoming a 12-16 deficit, but were outscored 36 to 26 in the second frame. It was the first loss for the Dukes when leading at the half. The Dukes shot .453 (24-53) from the field to Xavier's .375 (18-48). Xavier held a 33-28 rebounding edge.

Friday the First

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 now has 1,126 over her not-yet-complete four seasons. She also has tallied 1,356 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 1,361 points and 1,222 rebounds entering this weekend.

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 24 games this season, the Upper St. Clair High School grad has pulled down 260 rebounds, 19 away from Ridilla's senior mark.

Friday is now in fourth place all-time among Duquesne scorers with 1,346 points. Next on the list in third place is Kris Sebastian who scored 1,374 points (1991-94).

She was named the Jan. 27 Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week with GW's Cathy Joens. Friday averaged a double-double with 20.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game leading the Dukes to a 2-0 mark. On the week, she shot .610 (14-23) from the field and .667 (12-18) from the free throw line. Friday tied her career mark with 24 points vs. Fordham and grabbed a game-best 16 rebounds. Against St. Bonaventure, she posted 16 points and eight rebounds.

And this past week, the Pittsburgh native was named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-District 2 Women's Basketball Team, one of five Division I student-athletes from Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia to be selected.

My Sharon-ah

Junior Shiri Sharon has been nearly perfect from the free throw line this season hitting 56 of her 72 attempts for a 77.8% accuracy. Her first miss was in the Pitt game where she was 7-8 overall from the charity stripe. She has seven perfect games from the free throw line to date.

Sharon also leads the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with her 6.75 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. Sharon also recorded 10 assists vs. James Madison.

Her season total is 162 assists entering today's contest. The Israeli native, with 471 assists in her non-yet completed three years, is currently in fourth place all-time at Duquesne; Becky Oglevee is in third place with 528 career assist during her career from 1983-86. Sharon also has 711 career points.

Next Up

Duquesne closes out its 2003 home season hosting West Division leader George Washington (18-6, 12-1) this Thursday, Feb. 27th. The Senior Night game begins at 7:05 pm.