Feb. 6, 2003

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The Series

The Duquesne-Rhode Island series is tied at 16-16 and began in 1983. Last year, the Rams snapped a seven-game winning streak the Dukes posted over URI with a 64-57 victory at the Palumbo Center. The Dukes are 7-6 when playing in Providence. Head Coach Dan Durkin is 7-5 against the Rams.

Game Time

The Dukes and Rams are meeting for the 33rd time this evening, which is the second longest rivalry in the A-10 for Duquesne. Only DU and GW have met more times (42). Duquesne looks for just its second road A-10 victory while Rhode Island his happy to back in its new arena after a four-game road series over the past 14 days. Duquesne is fifth in the West while URI is tied for third in the East in the A-10 standings.

About the Dukes

Duquesne improved to 11-8 overall and evened its league record to 4-4 with a 72-59 come-from-behind victory over visiting Dayton this past Sunday. The Red & Blue are 4-5 when playing away from the Palumbo Center this year, which includes a 1-3 showing in A-10 play.

Candace Futrell leads the Dukes with 20.2 ppg while Beth Friday adds 15.2 ppg and a team-best 11.0 rpg. Shiri Sharon boasts a team and league-best 6.89 apg. Both Friday and Sharon are in 10th place in the nation in rebounds and assists, respectively.

Duquesne ranks first in the A-10 in blocks (4.42) and is second in field goal pct. defense (.379).

About the Rams

Rhode Island returns home for the first time in two weeks after a four-game league road series. The Rams are 4-3 at home and have won two of their last five outings.

Denise King leads the Rams with 13.2 ppg followed by Shayla Johnson with 11.7 ppg. Johnson leads URI and is second in the A-10 with 2.45 steals per game. Katie Stailing adds a team-high 6.9 rpg.

Rhode Island enters the contest averaging 59.5 points per game, but is ranked second in the league in scoring defense allowing just 60.1 opponent points per game.

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

The Last Game ... Dukes vs. Dayton

Candace Futrell scored 18 of her game-best 24 points in the second half to lead Duquesne to a 72-59 come-frombehind victory over visiting Dayton Sunday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center. Beth Friday added 20 points and a game-best 15 rebounds for her 44th career double-double. Shiri Sharon led the game with seven assists. Stefanie Miller led Dayton with 16 points.

The game opened with seven lead changes before Dayton executed a 10-2 run to give them a 16-9 lead at 12:36. The Flyers went up 19-12 on a three-point goal at 9:30 before Nikolina Pender sparked a 9-0 Duquesne run over a 1:51 span to grab a 21-19 edge at 6:30. Three lead changes and three ties followed, but Erin Wehrle completed the three-point play to give Duquesne a 26-25 margin at 4:19. Dayton took a 27-26 advantage at 4:00 and grabbed a 30-26 lead at 1:55 with a three-point goal. Sharon twice cut the lead to two going 4-4 from the free throw line with the last being a 30-32 reach with :22 ticking. Sarah Allen hit a three as time expired to put Dayton ahead 35-30 at the half.

Dayton held a 39-32 lead on a 6-0 drive early in the second half before Wehrle hit four of DU's seven unanswered points to tie the contest at 39-39 with 16:55 remaining. Duquesne cut the lead to a 41-43 reach on a Futrell bucket, but Dayton twice extended its lead to five points with the last being a 48-43 cushion at 13:36. Futrell put DU within a 47-48 reach, before a Dayton three gave them a 51-47 advantage with 11:53 remaining. Futrell led DU's 13- 0 run with eight markers for a 60-51 lead with 6:45 on the clock. Dayton faced a 5:26 scoreless before a gaol put them within a 53-60 reach, but they would not get any closer. Maria Stankevich hit a three-point goal at :15 to give Duquesne a 72-57 lead, its largest of the game.

For the game, Sharon went 6-6 from the free throw line while Friday hit 8-11 shots from the field for a .727 accuracy. Duquesne shot .520 (26-50) from the field and 17-20 (.850) from the line.

Comparatively Speaking

Here is how Duquesne and Rhode Island compare statistically.

Last Time vs. Rhode Island

Duquesne fell to visiting Rhode Island 64-57 on January 19, 2002. Candace Futrell led the Dukes with 18 points while Nikolina Pender led the team's rebounding with a career-best 10 boards. Shayla Johnson led Rhode Island and the game with 20 points while Yatar Kuyateh hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

The first half saw 10 lead changes before the Dukes sprang to an 8-2 run for a 19-14 lead, the largest of the half, at the 9:07 mark. Rhode Island tied the contest with five unanswered points for a 19-19 game with 6:42 remaining. The contest saw four additional lead changes and two ties before the 26-26 halftime score.

The teams traded baskets for the three minutes of frame two, but the Dukes hit a jumper and back-to-back three-point goals over a 1:40 span for a 40-32 lead, the largest by either team, at the 15:09 mark. Rhode Island came on with a 14-2 scoring drive, which gave them a 46- 42 advantage as 10:50 remained. The Dukes chipped away at the lead and took a 49-48 edge on a 7-2 drive and held a 52-50 favor off a three-point goal by Shiri Sharon with just over five minutes to go. The Rams knotted the game at 52-52 at 4:48 before the Dukes grabbed their last lead of the game, 53-52, as Sharon made the first of the one-one free throw bonus. Rhode Island then hit five unanswered points for a 57-53 edge and the lead for good. The Dukes got within a 55-57 reach as Beth Friday connected on two free throws, but Rhode Island closed out the contest out-scoring the Dukes 7-2 for the final.

Friday the First; Sports Illustrated Appearance

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 1,075 over her not-yet-complete four seasons. She also has tallied 1,303 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 1,314 points and 1,177 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 19 games this season, the Upper St. Clair High School grad has pulled down 209 rebounds.

Friday moved into sixth place among the Dukes' all-time scorers with her 20 points in Sunday's win over Dayton, passing Becky Oglvee who poured in 1,292 points (1983-86). She is now three points from fifth place (Amy Alger, 1,306 points, 1986-89) and nine from Ridilla's hold on fourth place.

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, in this week's Sports Illustrated's (Feb. 10, 2003), Friday's career rebounding and scoring feat are listed among other top accomplishments from around the nation in SI's "Faces in the Crowd," available on-line at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/

My Sharon-ah

Junior Shiri Sharon has been nearly perfect from the free throw line this season hitting 50 of her 62 attempts for an 80.6% accuracy, including a perfect 6-6 in the Dayton win. Her first miss was in the Pitt game where she was 7-8 overall from the charity stripe. She has five perfect games from the free throw line to date.

Sharon also leads the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with her 6.89 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. And she has a 1.25 assist-turnover ratio, a mark Sharon has improved on each year since becoming Duquesne's starting point guard as a freshman.

Her season total is 131 assists entering today's contest. The Israeli native moved into fifth place in the St. Bonaventure win, passing Kathy Folk who gave out 421 assists (1979-82), and is just two dishes shy of Michelle Bouldin's fourth place mark of 446 (1992-94). Sharon also has 677 career points.

Blocking the Shot

To date, the Dukes have 84 rejections while allowing just 44 blocks. They lead the conference with 4.42 blocks per game.

The Dukes have three games without being blocked - at Robert Morris, vs. Loyola (MD) and vs. Vanderbilt. The Dukes tied the Palumbo Center record for blocks in a game with 11 vs. Robert Morris Dec. 20, 2001. The Dukes set a new team single-season mark with 123 blocks last season, while allowing just 67.

Next Up

Duquesne will host Saint Joseph's, the A-10 East Division leader, on Sunday at 2:00 pm at the Palumbo Center. The home game can be heard over the internet at RedZoneMedia.com with Alex Panormios and Tad Maurey providing the play-by-play.