Jan. 22, 2008

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PITTSBURGH - Amber Harris' jumper with 5:29 remaining in the game broke a 52-52 tie and started a 16-3 run to give Xavier a 68-55 win over Duquesne (10-9, 1-3) at the Palumbo Center Tuesday night.

Kristi Little, coming off a career-high 26 points in Saturday's win over Dayton, poured in 25 points and tied her personal-best with four 3-pointers. Jocelyn Chandler led the Dukes with a career-high 11 rebounds.

Reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Ta'Shia Phillips recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Harris also had a double-double scoring 22 points and pulling down a game-high 15 boards.

The Musketeers (13-6, 3-1) took an early 17-4 lead before Little scored nine consecutive points to cut XU's lead to four points with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

A Harris layup at 1:13 put Xavier up by nine points until Jade Singleton's jumper in the paint at the buzzer send the Dukes into halftime trailing 34-27.

Duquesne began to chip away at the Xavier lead immediately in the second half. Samantha Pollino, Keri Pryor, Sam Thompson and Little all drained 3-pointers in the first seven minutes to get within one point at 44-43. A pair of Little foul shots gave the Dukes their first lead since the 19:01 mark of the first half.

The game would see four more ties until Harris connected with a jumper to give the Musketeers a 54-52 lead. The Dukes would miss the next eight shots from the field and turnover the ball two times until Thompson hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining.

Xavier, who leads the A-10 in rebounding margin, grabbed 10 more boards than the Dukes, 47-37. XU shot .415 from the floor to DU's .297. The Musketeers bench got 13 points of their 21 from Tudy Reed.

"Xavier is very talented team," said head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "They made plays when they were up. They made us make adjustments, but we never quit and I am very proud of the team.

Duquesne has a two-game Empire State road trip ahead of them. Sunday, the Dukes will visit 0-18 Fordham. DU will close out January in Olean, N.Y. taking on St. Bonaventure.

GAME NOTES
• Little scored 15 of Duquesne's initial 20 points
• Pryor had a career-high five assists
• Chandler's previous high was nine rebounds against Saint Louis last season
• Little's eight field goals tied her personal-best (Dayton on Saturday)
• Duquesne tied a season-high with 19 offensive rebounds