Feb. 7, 2003

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The Series

Saint Joseph's holds a 28-3 lead in the all-time series with the Dukes. It is the second longest league rivalry as only the Dukes and George Washington have met more times (42 in all). Duquesne's last win was Jan. 28, 2001 -- A 69-66 victory at the Palumbo Center. Last year, the Hawks won 78-58 in Philly on "Field Trip Day" which featured a packed house of elementary and middle school students.

Game Time

The Dukes and Hawks are meeting for the 32nd time and are both coming off league wins this past Thursday. Duquesne is 3-9 when hosting Saint Joseph's. The Hawks lead the East Division of the A-10 with their 9-1 record while Duquesne is tied for third in the West posting a 5-4 league mark.

About the Dukes

Duquesne won its second-straight game with a 69-62 win at Rhode Island this past Thursday. It also marked the fifth win in the last six outings for the Red & Blue.

Candace Futrell leads the Dukes with 19.8 points per game while Beth Friday adds 15.2 points per contest. Friday also posts a team-high 11.0 rebounds per game. Shiri Sharon leads the Dukes and the Atlantic 10 with 6.65 assists per game. Duquesne is 7-3 at home, which includes a 3-1 league mark.

About the Hawks

Saint Joseph's won its fourth-straight and its 10th game in the last 11 meetings with a 74-68 victory at St. Bonaventure this past Thursday. The Hawks enter the Palumbo Center with a perfect 5-0 league mark when playing on the road. SJU is led by Irina Krasnoshiok with 15.1 ppg followed by Erin Brady (11.7 ppg) and Stephanie Graff (11.5 ppg). Graff also leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. SJU advanced to the WNIT last season.

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

In the Latest NCAA Statistics Released Feb. 2

Shiri Sharon ranks 10th with her 6.89 assists per game while Beth Friday is tied for 10th with 11.0 rebounds per game.

The Last Game ... Dukes at Rhode Island

Khalihah Este-Shehu hit a season-best 15 points and grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds to lead Duquesne to a 69-62 win at Rhode Island this past Thursday. Beth Friday hit her 45th career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards while Candace Futrell added 15 points as well.

The Rams took an 8-3 lead as Duquesne was held scoreless for 4:23 early in the first half, but a 9-2 run for the Dukes followed shortly after for a 12-10 lead over Rhode Island with 9:40 remaining. Maria Stankevich put Duquesne up 15-14 at 8:24 before URI connected on one of two free throws for a 15-15 tie at 8:11. A 7-0 Rams' run gave them a 22-17 lead at 5:21 before Erin Wehrle hit back-to-back goals for a 21-22 Duquesne reach at 3:25. Rhode Island then rattled off a 6-0 spree for a 28-21 advantage at 1:45. Friday hit one of two free throws to end the half's scoring as URI held a 28-22 edge at the break.

The Rams held a 31-24 edge to start the second half before Futrell capped off a 7-0 Duquesne run to knot the game 31-31 at the 16:59 mark. Four ties would follow with the last being 40-40 with 11:44 on the clock, but the Dukes sprang to a 7-2 run to take a 47-42 advantage and the lead for good as Nicole Sinclair competed the series with her three-point play. The Rams got within a 46-47 reach, but the Dukes out-scored the host 13-4 for a 60-51 cushion and the largest lead of the game with 3:37 to go. Rhode Island would not get within six points thereafter. Duquesne out-rebounded the Rams 40 to 30 and shot .468 from the field to their .361 effort. The Dukes recorded three blocks and did not have a shot rejected for the game by Rhode Island.

Comparatively Speaking

Here is how Duquesne and Saint Joseph's compare statistically.

Last Time vs. Saint Joseph's

Duquesne lost its first Atlantic 10 contest falling 78-58 at Saint Joseph's Jan. 11, 2002 at the SJU Fieldhouse. Candace Futrell led the Dukes with 20 points and Beth Friday added 10 markers. Shiri Sharon led DU with six assists and added three steals. Saint Joseph's was led by Susan Moran with 29 points and eight rebounds.

The Hawks opened the contest on an 11-2 run before the Dukes cut the lead to an 8-14 reach on a steal and basket by Friday at the 13:22 mark. Saint Joseph's sprang to a 10-0 run for a 25-8 lead with 11:13 ticking and never looked back. SJU held a 45-26 lead at the half and out-rebounded the Dukes 21-8. Duquesne jumped to a 6-0 start in the second frame to get within a 32-47 reach of the lead with 4:30 off the clock, but would not get any closer. The Hawks went up by as many as 24 points (74-50) before the 78-58 final.

The Dukes shot .429 (24-56) for the game from the field and .800 (8-10) from the free throw line. SJU hit .440 (27-56) from the field and was 16-18 from the line for an .889 accuracy.

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 1,085 over her not-yet-complete four seasons. She also has tallied 1,313 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 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 19 games this season, the Upper St. Clair High School grad has pulled down 219 rebounds.

Friday moved into fourth place all-time among Duquesne scorers with her 10th point on Thursday. The Pittsburgh native, who holds the DU career rebounding record with 1,085 boards and now has 1,313 points, passed two former Dukes: Amy Alger who tallied 1,306 points during her career from 1986-89 and Ridilla's 1,312 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, 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 54 of her 68 attempts for an 89.4% accuracy. 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 6.65 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 133 assists entering today's contest. The Israeli native tied for fourth into fifth place in the win at Rhode Island matching up with Michelle Bouldin's of 446 (1992-94). Sharon also has 681 career points.

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 and 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 sidelined this year after ankle problems to begin the campaign.

She paced the winning Dukes vs. the Rhode Island game with a personal-best 11 rebounds and added 15 points. Este-Shehu has played in nine contests and averages 4.6 points and 3.4 boards.

Futrell Back In The Saddle

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 is averaging a team-best 19.8 ppg.

Next Up

Duquesne will hit the road once again traveling to Richmond Feb. 13 and to George Washington on Feb. 15. A three-game home stand follows with the Dukes hosting Temple, Xavier and George Washington. Temple, the defending Atlantic 10 champions, advanced to the 2002 NCAA tournament while George Washington competed in the WNIT.