Jan. 2, 2004
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Dukes (4-6, 0-0) at Saint Joseph's (5-4, 0-0)
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2004 - 2:00 pm
Philadelphia, Pa. - Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (3,200)
Audio: WPEN-950 AM in Philadelphia and www.SJUHawks.com Duquesne Probable Starters Saint Joseph's Probable Starters | No. | NAME | YR | POS | HT | PPG | RPG |
| 5 | Elizabeth Mohan | SR | F | 5-11 | 6.0 | 4.0 |
| 15 | Maura McBryan | SO | F | 6-0 | 4.0 | 1.2 |
| 50 | Stephanie Graff | SR | C | 6-2 | 12.2 | 8.3 |
| 4 | Erin Brady | SR | G | 5-7 | 8.1 | 3.0 |
| 21 | Ayahna Cornish | FR | G | 5-9 | 7.3 | 2.6 |
About the Dukes
Duquesne suffered a 73-58 loss at James Madison Dec. 30 to close out the month of December and drop the Red & Blue to 4- 6 overall. DU has endured a tough non-conference slate and has lost three of its last five outings. Candace Futrell leads Duquesne with 20.9 ppg and is second with 7.5 rebounds per game. Nicole Sinclair leads DU with 7.6 rpg and adds 7.6 points. Shiri Sharon leads the offense with 4.9 apg.
Futrell Tabbed A-10 Performer of the Week
Senior Candace Futrell was named the Dec. 29th Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after leading the Dukes to a 74-65 win over Siena Dec. 22. Futrell posted her second 30-point game and double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. She sot 9-20 from the field and was 4-9 from behind the arc. Futrell also landed 8-10 free throws and clocked in 39 minutes of play. It is her first A-10 honor this season.
About the Hawks
Saint Joseph's opens the Atlantic 10 season Sunday afternoon hosting the Dukes. The Hawks look to rebound from a 59-68 OT loss vs. George Mason in the Hawk Classic Dec. 29. They have won three of their last four contests and are led by Stephanie Graff's 12.2 ppg and 8.5 rpg.
The Series
St. Joe's holds a 28-4 lead in the all-time series and is 16-0 when hosting the Dukes. Last year, Duquesne took a 68-64 margin over the Hawks at the Palumbo.
In the Atlantic 10 Opener
With the loss at La Salle (1/3/02) Duquesne fell to 4-15 all-time in the Atlantic 10 season opener. The Dukes are 4-5 when opening the season at home and 0-10 when on the road. Coach Durkin posts a 3-7 mark in the league opener since taking over the Duquesne helm in 1993-94.
The Coaches
Dan Durkin is in his 11th year at Duquesne and as a head coach. He is 4-6 this season and 134-155 overall over his tenure. Cindy Griffin is in her third year at Saint Joseph's and the sixth as a collegiate head coach. She is 5-4 entering the weekend and posts an overall mark of 96-56.
Next Game
The Dukes continue Atlantic 10 play in Philadelphis and will visit West Division for La Salle on Tues. Jan. 6 at 7:00 p.m.
The Dukes' Last Game
Duquesne dropped their final game of 2003 at James Madison Dukes by a 73-58 score Tuesday night. Sophomore Nicole Sinclair recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 7-of-8 shots from the floor.
JMU scored the game's first nine points and never trailed. DU missed its first seven shots, while JMU connected on four of its first five field-goal attempts and hit 14 of their 28 first half attempts (50%). Duquesne, which shot only 29.4 percent (10-34) in the opening period, closed the gap to four points on two occasions but could get no closer. With Duquesne trailing by four (23-19) with 6:47 left in the first half, JMU went on a 14-0 run to extend its lead to 18 (37-19) at 1:12. The host Dukes took a 37-23 lead at the end of the opening half.
The Duquesne Dukes, who scored 35 points to JMU's 36 in the second half, shot 31.8 percent following the break hitting just three of 20 second half shots from three-point range. JMU out-rebounded Duquesne 53-44 and hit 18 of 20 free throw attempts.
Senior Shiri Sharon added 14 points for the Dukes while sophomore Maria Stankevich, who started the second game of her career, also pulled down 10 rebounds. DU's leading scorer, senior Candace Futrell, was held to nine points, the first time this season she hasn't hit double digits.
JMU was led by Lesley Dickinson with a game-best 18 points while Meredith Alexis pulled down 18 rebounds -- a new JMU freshman record.
Comparatively Speaking
Here is how Duquesne and Saint Joseph's compare statistically:
| 2004 | GP | FGM | FGA | PCT | RPG | ATG | TOG | BLG | STG | PPG |
| DU | 10 | 237 | 629 | .377 | 38.6 | 13.4 | 18.0 | 2.6 | 7.5 | 67.8 |
| SJU | 9 | 220 | 497 | .412 | 36.0 | 9.0 | 16.1 | 3.4 | 7.7 | 63.2 |
The Last Time They Met
Duquesne improved to 13-8 overall, 6-4 in the Atlantic 10 with a 68-64 victory over visiting Saint Joseph's (14-8, 9-2) Feb. 9, 2003 at the Palumbo Center. Candace Futrell led the Dukes with 18 points while Beth Friday added 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Shiri Sharon led the game with nine assists and added nine points.
The win snapped a four-game winning streak for the Hawks, who stood first in the Atlantic 10 East. Irina Krasnoshiok led SJU and the game with 21 points and added 11 boards.
The game opened with two ties and five lead changes before a 7-0 Hawks' run gave them a 15- 9 lead at 12:24. Aiga Bautre hit five of the Dukes' nine points in a 9-2 drive to grab an 18-17 edge at 6:54. Five lead changes followed and a three-point goal gave the Hawks a 29-24 lead with 4:09 remaining. The teams traded goals and kept the game within a three-point reach before Futrell's lay-up with :03 to go put the Dukes within a 32-33 reach at the half.
The second frame saw much of the same with five lead changes to open play before SJU rattled off five unanswered points to take a 44-39 lead with 15:49 remaining. The Dukes followed suit with a 6-1 drive to tie the contest at 45-45 with 12:35 ticking. The Hawks regained a 49-45 lead on back-toback goals before the Dukes scored two buckets within :32 to knot the game at 49-49. Sharon's three-point goal at 7:30 sparked an 8-2 run which gave DU a 57-53 margin with 5:25 ticking. SJU would get within a 59-57 reach at 4:09, but Duquesne out-scored the Hawks 9-3 to grab the largest lead of the contest, 68-60, with :27 on the clock. St. Joe's hit two free throws and a put-back goal to end the game.
Duquesne held a commanding 40-28 lead in rebounding, which included 21 offensive boards. The Dukes shot .452 (28-62) for the game to SJU's .471 (24-51).
Common Opponents
None to date.
No Stop'n Futrell
All-America candidate Candace Futrell produced her fourth career game scoring 30 or more points with a 30-point effort vs. Siena Dec. 22. She notched her third the earlier this season pouring in a game-best 32 points in the Dukes' loss to Kentucky at the USF odwalla Classic over Thanksgiving. This past summer, she became the first Duquesne player to compete in the USA Basketball Team Trials when she was one of 60 D-I athletes invited to participate. The 5-10 guard did not make either of the 12- member rosters, but had the chance to compete with some of the top talent in the country. One of the top scoring threats in Duquesne history and the Atlantic 10, she entered her senior campaign with 1,047 career points, even after missing eight games last year with injuries. Futrell averaged 19.5 ppg as a junior and owns a team- and A-10 best 20.9 ppg average this year. Futrell stands 8th on the Duquesne career list with 1,256. The quick and agile guard could surpass Darcie Vincent as the #2 scorer with 1,538 points. She would need to net 283 markers to do so.
Duquesne Career Points Leaders
1 Korie Hlede 2,631 1995-98 2 Darcie Vincent 1,538 1989-92 3 Beth Friday 1,410 2000-03 4 Kris Sebastian 1,374 1991-94 5 Kathy Ridilla 1,312 1986-89 6 Amy Alger 1,306 1986-89 7 Becky Oglevee 1,292 1983-86 8 Candace Futrell 1,256 2001-present 9 Katie Collins 1,186 1987-9010 Chrissi Stough 1,152 1981-84
Shooting Slump
Duquesne and Candace Futrell have suffered recent shooting slumps. As a team, the Red and Blue post a .377 (237-629) accuracy from the field, but have shot under .319 in three of its last four games. Futrell posted a season-low .120 effort at James Madison and has three games posting .190 or less. Her season-best performance is a .563 effort (9-16) at Pitt. Futrell had her first non-double figure scoring game this season with nine markers at JMU.
Sharon Becomes Fourth to Hit 500 Assists
Shiri Sharon posted a DU and Atlantic 10 best 6.6 apg average last year, which also stood 12th in the NCAA. She became the first player at Duquesne over the past nineyears to record 12 assists in a game when she did so at Xavier marking a career high and a league single-game best mark. On the season she had four games with double-figure dishes. She moved into fourth all-time at Duquesne in just her third season with 505. She is on track to be the first Duquesne player to reach 600 career assists. Sharon is currently third among A-10 leaders with a 4.9 assist per game average and stands third all-time at Duquesne.
Duquesne Career Assists Leaders
1 Korie Hlede 570 1995-982 Darcie Vincent 555 1989-923 Shiri Sharon 554 2001-present4 Becky Oglevee 528 1983-865 Michelle Bouldin 446 1992-94
Sharon's Season High Assists - 2003-04
8 ........ vs West Virginia 12/207 ........ at Pitt 12/36 ........ vs Siena 12/225 ........ at Toledo 11/255 ........ vs Robert Morris 11/23
