March 4, 2006

Box Score

Duquesne (13-16) upset second-seeded Charlotte (20-8) 56-45 in the second round of the Atlantic 10 championship Saturday afternoon led by senior Nicole Sinclair's double-double with a team-best 16 points and game-high 14 rebounds. Also hitting double-figures for the Dukes was junior Loui Hall and freshman Kristi Little. It is the first time since 1992 that the Dukes will play in the semifinals. The Dukes will face No. 3 seed Temple at 4:00 pm Sunday. It will be aired live by the A10-TV Network.

"It was a great basketball game to watch," said Head Coach Dan Durkin. "Not so much that we were the underdog, but because it was between two teams that battled hard and played the game the way it should be played. Our gals learned what they needed to do and did a great job forcing plays and battling for every possession. Defense and free throws won the game for us and I felt Nicole Sinclair had a tremendous game and overall everybody did an excellent job getting it done."

Charlotte opened the game on a 7-0 run before Chandler hit a jumper at 16:09 to put the Dukes on the board. Sinclair hit five points for the Dukes for a 9-7 reach but the 49ers upped the ledge to 11-7 at12:18. Kristi Little hit an NBA three at 11:47 for an 11-10 grasp for the Dukes and Sinclair's lay-up gave the Red & Blue their first lead, 12-11, at 11:08. Six unanswered for Charlotte gave them a 17-12 edge with 8:12 ticking. Duquesne went ahead 18-17 on a 6-0 run and held a 20-18 lead on a Loui Hall bucket as 4:39 remained. Two made 49er free throws knotted the game at 20-20 at 2:48, but the Dukes' Hall scored at 1:55 and Bruce connected on the first of the one-and-one bonus at :38 for a 23-20 lead. Charlotte drove to the goal with :15 ticking, but stepped out of bounds to lose possession. Duquesne took the 23-20 lead into the half. The Dukes out-shot the 49ers .320 (8-25) to .240 (6-25) from the field and had eight steals to Charlotte's four. Charlotte held a 22-18 rebounding advantage.

The 49ers opened the second half hitting two three-point goals for a 26-23 lead before Hall put Duquesne on the board for a 26-25 reach. Hall and Sinclair connected on goals for a 29-28 DU edge at 14:02 before Charlotte hit four unanswered for a 32-29 lead with 13:04 on the clock. Jade Singleton started a 6-0 Duquesne run that gave the Dukes a 35-32 lead at 9:21, but Charlotte used an 8-2 drive to go up 40-37 as 6:11 remained. Little hit a lay-up and Sinclair hit the first of the one-and-one bonus to tie the game at 40-40 and Hall would tie the game at 42-42 following a 49er basket as 4:38 ticked. Sinclair and Hall went 2-2 from the line for a 46-42 lead at 3:01 giving DU a 6-0 spree. The Dukes ended the game on a 16-3 run to the 56-45 upset.

Andrea Davidson led the 49ers with 19 points while Courtney Williams grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

Duquesne led 45-37 in rebounds and shot .333 (17-51) from the field and .875 (21-24) from the line. Charlotte hit .288 (17-59) from the field and just .438 (7-16) from the charity stripe.

"I'm extremely excited for the kids and what they have accomplished the last four games - playing hard and representing Duquesne, themselves and their families well. We have plenty left to do."

Duquesne, which won its fourth-straight game, will face the winner of the Temple/Dayton game on Sunday at 4:00 pm in semifinal action.