Jan. 3, 2005

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Duquesne's women's basketball team hosts the Saint Joseph's Hawks Monday, January 3, 2005 at 7:05 p.m at the Palumbo Center. The game is the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams.

Duquesne is on a three-game winning streak that has evened their 2004-05 mark to 5-5. The 2-10 Hawks bring a seven-game losing streak into the 'Burgh. St. Joe's has won 11 straight Atlantic 10 openers, including last season's with Duquesne. However, DU has won the previous three home games against the Philly school.

Dukes Lately

DU evened it record to 5-5 after taking an 88-80 victory over Ohio Friday afternoon, it was the third-straight win and the fourth in the last five games for the Red & Blue ... They started the slate 1-4 overall ...The Cornell win snapped a five-game road losing skid and marked the 150th career victory for Coach Durkin ... Duquesne is 4-0 at home, but is just 1-5 on the road ... Three players are averaging double-figures in scoring in Aiga Bautre (17.2), Loui Hall (14.7) and Nicole Sinclair (10.6) ... Nicole Sinclair leads the squad with 9.7 rebounds per game ... Duquesne has scored 67 or more points in each of its five wins (68, 82, 97, 67, 88) ... DU has had a problem with turnovers and tossed away a Palumbo record 31 in the win over Howard ... DU is averaging 21.4 turnovers per game ... The Dukes are averaging 78.0 points, 45.4 rebounds and 5.6 three-point goals per game in the last five outings.

Saint Joseph's Lately

The Hawks are suffering from the loss of its veterans to graduation entering the contest 2-10 overall ... Saint Joseph's is riding a sevengame losing skid and stands 1-5 on the road ... They average 44.6 ppg while allowing 59.5 per game for a -14.9 scoring margin ... SJU lost it's top five scorers from last year account for 1,615 (48.9 ppg) of the team's 2,058 points ... There are no seniors on this year's roster ... They have five juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen, one of whom redshirted last year.

The Series

This marks the 35th meeting between Duquesne and Saint Joseph's with the Hawks holding a 30-4 edge. The Dukes are 4-9 when hosting SJU and are 0-17 in Philadelphia and 0-4 vs. the Hawks in the A-10 Tournament. The Dukes suffered a 58-64 fall at home last year and lost 63-73 on the road in the second round of the A-10 tournament. Duquesne was last victorious on Feb. 9, 2003 taking a 68-64 edge at the Palumbo Center.

The Coaches

Dan Durkin is in his 12th season at the helm of the Duquesne women's basketball program and as a head coach. He posts a 151-167 career mark. Durkin is a 1975 graduate of Mount St. Mary's. Cindy Griffin is in her fourth year at the helm of the Hawks and the seventh as a head coach. She is 67-40 at Saint Joseph's and owns a career mark of 115-73. Griffin in a 1991 graduate of Saint Joseph's.

Comparatively Speaking

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

Dukes Sweep A-10 Weekly Honors

Duquesne swept the Jan. 2 Atlantic 10 honor roll with Aiga Bautre being named Co-Player and Jocelyn Chandler taking Rookie of the Week honors. The duo was instrumental in the Dukes going 2-0 this past week to improve to 5-5 overall. Bautre averaged 25.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds while posting back-to-back career highs. She was 17-20 (.586) from the field; 7-14 (.500) from the three-point arc and was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line - all vs. Ohio University. Bautre netted 22 points at Cornell and better her personal-best with 29 markers vs. Ohio. She has made 24-consecutive free throws over the past five games. Chandler averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 boards off the bench for the Red & Blue. She was 6-8 (.750) from the field and 5-6 (.833) from the charity stripe. Chandler recorded a career-high 11 points in the win over Ohio where she was 4-5 from the field. She also grabbed a personal-best eight rebounds and netted seven points vs. Cornell. This marks the first time for Duquesne to be named to the weekly A-10 honor roll.

In The Atlantic 10 Opener

With the loss at Saint Joseph's last season, Duquesne fell to 4-16 all-time in the Atlantic 10 opener. The Dukes are 4-5 when opening the season at home and 0-11 when on the road. Coach Durkin posts a 3-8 mark in the league opener since taking over the Duquesne helm in 1993-94. Duquesne and Saint Joseph's have met two other times in the A-10 opener - last year and on Dec 7, 1989. DU lost that game 67-103.

Next Up

The Dukes end the non-conference slate, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005 when they host Western Kentucky at 7:05 pm at the Palumbo Center. The Lady Toppers advanced to the 2004 Postseason WNIT.