Nov. 25, 2005

Box Score

Duquesne dropped a 65-54 non-conference bout to Oakland in the opening game of the Miami Thanksgiving tournament Friday evening at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gales, Fla. Aiga Bautre led the Dukes with 17 points and four assists while Nicole Sinclair tied the game lead with 10 boards. Also hitting double digits for Duquesne was Carmen Bruce and Jocelyn Chandler with 11 and Maria Stankevich with 10 points and a game-best four blocks. Oakland was led by Nicole Piggott with 21 points and Jayme Wilson's 10 boards.

The Dukes held a 6-2 lead early in the frame before Oakland hit a 14-2 run to take a 16- 8 edge at 11:39. Bautre halted a three minute scoring drought for the Dukes with a goal at 11:14 to spark a 13-2 Dukes' scoring drive which was capped by back-to-back three point goals by Jocelyn Chandler for a 22-18 edge at 7:53. Oakland outscored the Dukes 7-2 and tied the contest at 24-24 with 4:02 ticking. Sinclair connected on the one-one free throws for a 26-24 edge at 3:24, but the Golden Grizzlies ended the frame on an 8-0 run, which included two three-point goal, for a 32-26 lead at the break. The Dukes out-rebounded Oakland 21-14 in the first frame, but where out-shot .321 (9-28) to .417 (10-24).

The Dukes opened the second frame on a 6-0 run led by Carmen Bruce's four tallies to knot the game at 32-32 at the 16:07 mark. Sinclair hit one of two free throws at the 14:16 mark for a 33-38 deficit, but the Dukes went cold and suffered a seven minutes scoring drought as their last point came at 14:16 from the free throw line. Oakland scored nine unanswered for a 47-33 edge as 7:34 remained. Bruce's jumper at 7:13 broke that drought and the Red & Blue hit five unanswered for a 38-47 reach. Oakland held a 53-43 advantage with 3:37 remaining and the Dukes would not get closer than a 49-57 reach as the Golden Grizzlies took the 65-54 final.

The Dukes held a 40-39 rebounding edge and held a slight advantage from the field hitting 19-58 (.328) to Oakland's 17-52 (.327). Oakland went 25-31 from the free throw line for an 80.6 percent accuracy.

Duquesne will face the loser of the Miami/Bradley match-up on Saturday in the consolation game of the tournament beginning at 6:00 pm.