Jan. 21, 2007

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, NC - Duquesne (7-10, 2-2) suffered a 74-65 loss at league-leading Charlotte (14-6, 5-0) due in part to a strong second half surge late in the frame. Senior Loui Hall led the Dukes and all scorers with 21 points followed by 14 from both sophomore Kristi Little and senior Carmen Bruce. Junior Jade Singleton grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds to pace the game. Charlotte was led by Sabrina Gregory's 18 points and nine rebounds.

The host 49ers opened with a 7-2 edge before Kristi Little hit four of Duquesne's next five points for a 9-7 reach at 15:53 remained. Carmen Bruce, Jocelyn Chandler and Kristi Little connected on baskets for a 6-0 run giving the Dukes a 17-14 lead at the 13:16 mark. Charlotte took an 18-17 margin at 11:59, but the Dukes would take the lead once again and hold it, largely in part to Little's six points in the span, until a 27-27 tie after a made 49ers bucket as 7:56 showed. Jade Singleton hit a jumper at 7:30 to give the Dukes a 29-27 edge and they led by at least one point until Sabrina Jones hit a basket at 3:06 giving the 49ers a 34-33 at - their first since the 11:59 mark. Hall hit four unanswered for a 37-34 Duquesne lead, but Charlotte would take 38-37 edge into the intermission.

Little (12) and Bruce (10) combined for 22 of the Dukes' 37 first half points and the Red & Blue out-shot the 49ers .586 (17-29) to .447 (17-38) from the field. Charlotte held a 21-14 rebounding advantage and posted 16 second-chance points.

Chandler opened the scoring of the second frame for a 39-38 Dukes' edge, before the 49ers took a 42-39 margin at 17:07. Bruce and Hall hit baskets followed by two made free throws from Singleton for a 45-42 DU edge and the Dukes would hold the lead until Aysha Jones drained a three at 11:39 to knot the game at 49-49. Little's free throws gave DU a 51-49 edge, but Charlotte took advantage of DU turnovers and fouls and sprang to a 9-0 run for a 58-51 lead as 7:20 remained. The Dukes would suffer a 4:33 scoring drought from 10:15 to 5:42 before Bruce connected on the one-and-one bonus for a 60-53 deficit. The 49ers would execute a 21-4 run from the 9:17 mark giving the host a 70-55 lead with 2:12 on the clock. Duquesne hit an 8-0 run from Hall and Chandler for a 70-63 reach as :55 showed, but they would go on to take a 74-65 victory and extend their home winning streak to 21 - fourth best in the country.

Charlotte out-rebounded the Dukes 38-34 for the game while the Dukes out-shot the 49ers .500 (27-54) to .437 (31-71) for the contests. Duquesne committed 22 turnovers resulting in 25 Charlotte points. The 49ers posted 24 second chance points as they recorded 19 offensive rebounds. They also swiped 12 steals to DU's five.

Duquesne returns to action next weekend traveling to Xavier Jan. 26 and Dayton Jan. 28 for a pair of Atlantic 10 contests.