Feb. 27, 2003

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Game Time

Tonight marks the 43rd meeting all-time with George Washington and the final home game for seven senior on the Dukes squad. Seeing their last game at the Palumbo Center are Beth Friday, Jade Timol, Nikolina Pender, Selma Delibasic, Andrea Eaton, Khalihah Este-Shehu and Andrea Eaton. Duquesne is coming off a 75-69 overtime win vs. Xavier this past Sunday while GW is riding a four-game winning streak after a 70-63 victory at La Salle.

And "It's Take A Kid to the Game" night ... all youths 18 and under will be admitted free of charge into the game.

About the Dukes

It took OT, but Duquesne snapped a three-game losing streak with a 75-69 upset over Xavier, which entered the contest ranked second in the A-10 West. The Dukes overcame a 27-30 halftime deficit to knot the game 60-60 to send the game into the extra frame. Duquesne secured the win netting the first 10 points in OT. Candace Futrell hit 24 points for the Red & Blue to put her career total at 940 points in just three years. Beth Friday added 23 points while freshman Nicole Sinclair grabbed a game- and career-best 12 rebounds in the win.

Candace Futrell leads DU with 19.0 ppg while Friday is second with 14.8 ppg. She adds a team-best 10.8 rebounds per game as well. Shiri Sharon leads the Dukes' offense with 6.92 assists per game, which is tops in the A-10 standings. Duquesne enters the contest ranked fourth in the A-10 West with its 7-7 league record.

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

About the Colonials

George Washington, which has secured the overall #1 seed for the A-10 tournament, won its fourth-straight with a 70-63 victory at La Salle this past Sunday. They have lost just one league contest - a 94-92 quadruple overtime loss at Xavier - and have been receiving Top 25 votes in both the ESPN /USAToday /WBCA Coaches and Associated Press polls.

Cathy Joens leads the Colonials and is second in the A-10 with 17.2 ppg. Ugo Oha adds 14,9 points and a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game. Entering the contest at 19-6, head coach Joe McKeown is eying his 12th 20-win season at the Colonials' helm.

The Series

George Washington holds a 39-4 lead in the all-time series with Duquesne - the longest running rivalry of any Duquesne opponent. Earlier this year, the Dukes dropped a 95-63 decision at GW . The Dukes are 3-14 when hosting the Colonials with the last victory being a 57-56 upset of 23rd-ranked George Washington back on Jan. 8, 1994.

In the Latest NCAA Statistics Released Feb. 24

Junior Shiri Sharon (Jordan Valley, Israel / Ostrovsky) ranks 9th with 6.9 assists per game and senior Beth Friday (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Upper St. Clair) is 12th with 10.8 rebounds per game.

Last Time vs. GW

Duquesne ran into a hot George Washington Feb. 15 at the Smith Center as the Red and Blue dropped a 95-63 decision to the first place Colonials. Duquesne was led by Candace Futrell's 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Beth Friday had a game-high eight rebounds while junior Shiri Sharon dished out a game-high seven assists.

DU held their last lead at 6-5 until a three-pointer by Cathy Joens gave the Colonials their first lead of 8-6 at 15:41 of the opening stanza. GW extended the lead to 25-at 10:21 with 12 of those points coming on three-point field goals. With the score at 38-25, Duquesne ran off five straight points bringing the deficit down to 39-31. GW held a 45-32 edge at the break.

Duquesne came out strong after intermission hitting the first five points to cut the edge to 45-37 on Erin Wehrle's jump shot at 18:27. The Colonials and the Dukes exchanged baskets until GW upped their lead to 56-42. GW went on a 25-4 run to extend its lead to 81-46 at 7:02 making use of seven offensive rebounds, some strong defense and DU's inability to get the ball to drop. The run was finally ended at 4:49 when DU's Aiga Bautre hit a three to start a 10-0 run to bring the deficit down to 81-56. The Colonials out-scored DU down the stretch 12-9.

Duquesne shot 47.1 percent from the floor, and 41.2 percent from behind the arc, while the Colonials shot 55.0 percent and 38.9 percent from three-point range. GW out-rebounded the Dukes 35-29.

The Last Game ... Dukes vs. Xavier

Duquesne grabbed a 75-69 overtime win over Xavier Sunday afternoon at the Palumbo Center. Xavier entered the contest ranked second in the A-10 West. It was Duquesne's first OT contest since Feb. 24, 2002. The Dukes were led by junior Candace Futrell's 24 points along with senior Beth Friday's 48th career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Nicole Sinclair pulled down a career- and game-best 12 rebounds and junior Shiri Sharon dished out 11 assists. Freshman Tara Boothe's 25 points led XU.

Duquesne opened the game with a 6-0 run before a 9-2 drive by Xavier gave the visitor a 9-8 edge wit 14:30 ticking. DU went ahead 13-9 at 13:44, trailed 13-14 at 11:42 and then spring to a 9-1 drive to grab a 22-15 advantage with 5:25 on the clock. Xavier cut the lead to a 23-24 reach on an 8-2 run as 3:00 showed. Duquesne held a 27-23 margin after a Sinclair basket and made free throw from Sharon, but the Musketeers ended the half with seven unanswered to take a 30-27 lead into the break.

The Dukes got within a 32-33 reach with 16:36 to go in the second frame, but Xavier sprang to a 9-0 run for a 42-32 lead at 13:22. Duquesne responded with a 13- 2 drive to take their first lead of the frame, 45.44, at the 7:10 mark. Nine lead changes followed and Friday knotted the game 58-58 making the first of two free throws as 1:42 remained. Alexis Henderson's goal gave XU a 60-58 edge at 1:23 before Friday's lay-up at :33 would send the game into OT.

The Dukes scored 10 straight points in overtime to grab a 70-60 lead with 1:07 to go. Following an Xavier time-out, the Musketeers rallied back to bring the margin as close as 72-69 on two free throws by Boothe at :17. But Duquesne was not to be undone as Futrell and Friday combined for three points from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the win.

Duquesne out-rebounded Xavier 43 to 36 and shot .458 (27-59) to the Musketeers' .388 (26-67) from the field.

Friday Named Verizon Academic All-America

Senior Beth Friday was named a 2003 Verizon District II Women's Basketball Academic All-American. She boasts a 3.70 GPA in accounting. It is her second Verizon honor as she was named a District II selection last year. She is one of five student-athletes from Pennsylvania, Delaware, DC, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia to be selected. Friday is the 12th Duquesne student-athlete this year to be named a Verizon District II selection. She will now appear on the National ballot with the winners being announced on March 7.

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 1,137 over four seasons. She also has tallied 1,379 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 1,378 points and 1,238 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 271 rebounds, just eight away from Ridilla's senior mark.

Friday is now in third place all-time among Duquesne scorers with 1,379 points. Next on the list in second place is Darcie Vincent who scored 1,538 points (1989-92).

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.

Futrell Close to 1,000

Junior Candace Futrell enters the contests with 960 points and needs just 40 to become the 16th 1,000-point scorer at Duquesne. It could happen this year.

Futrell averages 19.0 ppg and the Dukes have two regular season games and at least one A-10 tournament contest remaining. She would need to average 13.3 points per game to hit the mark. If so, she will be just the fourth junior to accomplish this feat as Beth Friday, Darcie Vincent and Kris Sebastian each did as well. The quickest to 1,000 points was Korie Hlede who hit the mark as a sophomore.

My Sharon-ah

Junior Shiri Sharon has been nearly perfect from the free throw line this season hitting 59 of her 78 attempts for a 75.6% accuracy. Her first miss was in the Pitt game where she was 7-8 overall from the charity stripe. She has had seven perfect games from the free throw line to date.

Sharon also leads the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with her 6.9 assists per game average. She dished out 12 assists in the Dukes' loss at Xavier (1/10/03) 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. She matched that mark Jan. 26 vs. Richmond and had 11 in the OT win vs. Xavier (2/23/03).

Her season total is 173 assists entering today's contest. The Israeli native, with 486 assists in her three years with the Dukes, is currently in fourth place all-time at Duquesne; Becky Oglevee is in third place with 528 career assists during her career from 1983-86. Sharon also has 720 career points.

Next Up

Duquesne closes out the regular season at Massachusetts this Sunday, March 2, in a 12:00 pm tip-off. The game will be broadcast live as part of the A10 TV Network and will air locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. The 2003 Atlantic 10 Championships follow beginning March 6 at Rhode Island's Ryan Center.