Nov. 24, 2006

Box Score

WILMINGTON, NC - Duquesne suffered a 53-51 loss to Furman Friday evening in the first game of the UNCW Hilton Wilmington Riverside Classic. Junior Jocelyn Chandler led all scorers with 17 points and had a game-best four steals for the Dukes and Loui Hall added 14 points in the loss while grabbing a game-best nine rebounds.

Furman was led by Jessica Lange's 10 points and Courtney Opie's six rebounds.

Duquesne (2-2) opened the second half strong erasing a 24-23 half-time deficit with a 9-0 run giving the Dukes a 32-24 edge at the 16:30 mark. Furman (3-1) cut the lead to six with a 34-28 reach at 14:23, but Hall upped the cushion to 36-28 at 14:00. The Dukes went cold afterward going 5:57 without scoring as the Paladins rattled off a 10-0 run, including two three-pointers, for a 38-36 advantage. It wasn't until 8:03 on the clock when Chandler launched a three-pointer to give the Dukes a 39-38 margin. Five lead changes and two ties followed with the last being 49-49 with :53 ticking. Kristi Little was sent to the line for a 1-1 at :38 hitting the first, but Hall was called for a foul inside the paint which would give Furman a 1-1 after Little's second attempt. Little came through with the second for a 51-49 lead, but Maggie McKemie hit both of her shots on the 1-1 as well for a 51-51 game. With :15 on the shot clock and :21 on the game clock, Little drove to the basket, but missed the shot for Furman possession. She would be called for a foul inside the arc of Furman sending the Paladins to the line for the 1-1 as :03 showed. Furman connected on both for the 53-51 final as the Dukes' long-ball shot fell short as time expired.

In the first half, Duquesne held an 18-12 edge midway through the fame after a 7-0 run, but back-to-back three point Furman goals tied the contest at 18-18 as 6:45 remained. Furman would hit two additional treys in the final minutes and out-score the Dukes 6-5 for a 24-23 edge at the intermission.

Duquesne recorded 12 steals in the contest to Furman's three and the Paladins held a 34-33 rebounding edge. Duquesne shot .375 (21-56) from the field, but hit just 2-10 three-pointer for a 20 percent accuracy. Furman hit .370 (17-46) from the field and 8-12 (.348) from the three. They also hit 11-13 from the charity stripe (.846) to Duquesne's 7-10 .700). Duquesne committed just 10 turnovers in the contest while Furman committed 20 - 12 of which were stolen by Dukes.

The Dukes will face the loser of the Youngstown State - UNC-Wilmington game at 1:00 pm Saturday afternoon.