Jan. 20, 2006

Box Score

Duquesne suffered its third-straight loss with a 52-43 Atlantic 10 fall to visiting La Salle Friday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center. Junior Gosia Flaga led the Red & Blue with 12 points followed by an 11 point performance by Aiga Bautre. Nicole Sinclair hauled down a game-best 10 rebounds in the loss. Davineia Payne tossed in a game-best 15 points and nine rebounds.

An early 8-0 run led by Gosia Flaga's two three-pointers gave the Dukes an 8-3 edge, but La Salle would stay within reach keeping the game to within a three-points until the Explorers hit a 11-0 run to grab an 18-0 lead with 6:52 ticking. Duquesne would go 6:09 without scoring before Loui Hall hit the second of two free throws at 6:27 for an 11-18 deficit. The game would see just six points scored for the remainder of the game as La Salle took a 21-14 edge into the break - the fewest first half points for the Dukes' this season. Duquesne's Hall scored the final four points for the Red & Blue going 4-6 from the free throw line. After Hall's jumper at 12:38, the Dukes would not hit another field goal the entire half. The Dukes shot a dismal .167 (4-24) in the first half to La Salle's .375 (9-24) from the field. The Explorers held a 19-17 rebounding edge.

Bautre hit all six points of the Dukes' 6-1 run to open the second frame and cut the lead to a 20-23 reach at 17:24, but five unanswered from La Salle would give the Explores a 28-20 lead with 16:05 ticking. The Red & Blue hit a 9-0 run - all three pointers - to take a 29-28 edge at 13:15 and give DU its first lead since the 11:38 mark of the first half. The squads traded baskets before a La Salle's 8-0 run gave the visiting Explorers a 40-31 edge with 5:43 ticking. La Salle snagged a 44-33 edge - the largest lead of the game - with 4:29 to go. Duquesne would not get closer than a seven-point (39-46) reach afterward.

Duquesne held a 37-34 rebounding edge, but was out-shot .273 (15-55) to .477 (21-44) from the field. The Dukes dropped to 6-11 overall, 1-5 in the A-10 while La Salle upped its record to 8-8 overall, 5-1 in the Conference.

The Red & Blue return to action this Sunday as they travel to Rhode Island for a 1:00 pm Atlantic 10 tip-off.