Jan. 6, 2005

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Duquesne's women's basketball team hosts Western Kentucky Thursday night, January 6, 2005 at 7:05 p.m at the Palumbo Center. The game is the Dukes' final non-conference contest of the 2004-05 season.

Dukes Lately

Duquesne suffered its first home loss of the the season, dropping a 79-68 decision to Saint Joseph's Jan. 3 ... The Dukes stands 5-6 overall, 0-1 in league action ... DU is 4-0 at home vs. non-conference opponents to date ... After starting the year 1-4, the Dukes have been 4-2 afterward ... The Cornell win snapped a five-game road losing skid and marked the 150th career victory for Coach Durkin ... Three players are averaging double-figures in scoring in Aiga Bautre (16.8), Loui Hall (13.9) and Nicole Sinclair (11.0) ... Sinclair leads the squad with 9.5 rebounds per game ... Duquesne has scored 67 or more points in each of its five wins (68, 82, 97, 67, 88) ... SJU marked the first loss when scoring above the mark ... Bautre ranks 20th in the country with her .892 (33-37) free throw percentage and is 32nd in 3-pointers made per game (2.5) ... Sinclair is 31st in rebounds (9.5).

Western Kentucky Lately

The Lady Toppers, who advanced to the 2004 WNIT, improved to 5-6 after a 94-46 trouncing of Murray State Jan. 3 ... Their six losses have come from some tough competition in Charlotte (12-2); Arkansas (10-2); Louisville (9-4) and Tennessee Tech (7-4) ... the combined record of the six teams is 47-24 for a .662 winning percentage ... WKU is 1-6 when playing on the road ... Three Lady Toppers are netting double-digits in Crystal Kelly (19.7); Tiffany Porter-Talbert (17.2) and Leslie Logsdon (12.3) ... Kelly ranked first in the nation in FG% hitting .717 (81-113) and she is 19th in points per game ... Tifany Zaragoza is 23rd with 5.7 apg ... WKU ranks sixth in the NCAA in scoring (79.9 ppg), seventh in FG% (.478) and 11th in assists per game (18.9).

The Series

Today is the fourth meeting between Duquesne and Western Kentucky with the Lady Toppers holding a 3-0 mark. The teams first met at the Eastern Kentucky tournament during the 1985 season, DU suffered a 100-61 fall in that game. The squads met during the 1995 slate at WKU's Bowling Green Bank Classic when the Lady Toppers were ranked #21 in the country. DU fell 59-82 in the match-up and lost 50-68 at the Palumbo on Jan. 2, 1996.

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 151-168 career mark. Durkin is a 1975 graduate of Mount St. Mary's. Mary Taylor Cowles is in her fourth season leading the Lady Toppers and is 47-29 at Western Kentucky and as a head coach. She is a 1992 graduate of Western Kentucky where she was a 1,000+ point scorer and led the team to four NCAA tournaments.

Comparatively Speaking

Here is how Duquesne and Western Kentucky 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.

Next Up

The Dukes travel to Xavier this Sunday for a 2:00 pm Atlantic 10 tip.