Feb. 10, 2006
Box Score
Senior Nicole Sinclair (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) grabbed a game-best 16 rebounds to tie her season high and Aiga Bautre (Riga, Latvia) netted a team-best 13 points, but the Dukes suffered a 56-63 fall to visiting George Washington (16-6, 9-2) Friday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center. Duquesne, which held a 32-24 lead at the half, falls to 9-14 overall, 4-8 in the Conference.
Jessica Simmonds led three Colonials in double-digits with a game-best 15 points and tied her team lead with six rebounds. Kimberly Beck added 14 points and Kenan Cole tossed in 13.
George Washington entered the contest tied for second in the A-10 and has been receiving votes in both Top 25 polls.
The Dukes opened play with a 7-0 lead before an 8-0 GW run gave the Colonials an 8-7 edge at 14:04 - their only lead of the frame. Duquesne's Bautre launched a three pointer to take a 10-8 edge and they would hold at least a two-point lead until Whitney Allen's jumper at 7:11 put GW within a 20-21 reach. The Dukes' Maria Stankevich hit a lay-up to spark a 12-4 run to end the game giving the host a 32-24 cushion at the intermission. Duquesne held a 22-15 rebounding edge at the break and out-shot the Colonials .412 (14-34) to .379 (11-29).
The second half saw the Dukes take a 37-26 edge after Gosia Flaga's three-point goal at 17:23 before grabbing the largest lead of the game, 45-32, after an 11-6 drive at the 13:58 mark. George Washington used a 12-5 run to cut the lead to a 50-44 Duquesne advantage before Sinclair hit the second of two free throws for a 51-44 edge at 9:37. The Dukes went almost four minutes without scoring as GW snagged its first lead of the second frame, 52-51, with 6:47 ticking. Duquesne grabbed a 54-52 ledge at 5:27 on a Sinclair free throw, but GW's Cole hit a jumper to knot the game 54-54 and Allen put in the go-ahead basket at 4:33. Sinclair's lay-up gave DU a 56-57 reach at 3:32, but the Colonials went on a 6-0 run to end the game and take a 63-56 final.
Duquesne held a 35-34 rebounding edge, but was out-shot .448 (26-58) to .339 (20-59) from the field. The Dukes hit just 6-25 from the field in the second half while GW connected on 15-29.
Duquesne closes out the weekend hosting Charlotte in a noon Atlantic 10 TV tip-off this Sunday at the Palumbo Center. The game can be seen live locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh.
