Nov. 13, 2008

Morehead State Game Notes

MOREHEAD STATE (0-0) at DUQUESNE (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 • 6:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa.

DUQUESNE RADIO: Red Zone Media with Alex Panormios and Tad Maurey
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
ADDITIONAL MEDIA: Streaming video and Gametracker available at GoDuquesne.com

SEASON OPENER VS. MOREHEAD STATE: The Duquesne women's basketball team begins its 2008-09 season on Friday, Nov. 14 at 6:00 p.m. vs. Morehead State (0-0) at the Palumbo Center. It is the first game of a doubleheader followed by the Duquesne men's basketball season opener versus High Point. This is the 36th season of women's basketball at Duquesne, beginning play in the 1973-74 season. The Dukes began Division I and Atlantic 10 play in the 1983-84 season.

LAST TIME AGAINST MOREHEAD STATE: Kristi Little and Keri Pryor each had new career-highs of 19 points and Suzie McConnell-Serio notched her first win as a college head coach in Duquesne's 69-52 victory over Morehead State Nov. 10, 2007. Little came within one steal of a double-double as her nine steals was also a career-high for the Dukes who led from start to finish. Anitha Smith-Williams led the Eagles with 18 points. DU came out of the gates early in the first half as an Amanda Peck layup gave Duquesne their largest lead of the half 16-4 with 11:36 remaining in the first half. MSU came back with a 19-6 run to trim the Dukes lead to one point at 24-23. This would be the closest Morehead State would come as the Dukes took 40-34 lead into halftime. The Dukes lead swelled to 20 points with 8:06 remaining in the contest, and MSU would only get as close as 15 points as a Jocelyn Chandler layup closed out the scoring to give DU the 69-52 victory.

DUKES IN SEASON OPENERS: Tonight marks the 36th all-time season opener for the Duquesne women's basketball team. The first-ever game for the program was Dec. 12, 1973 at Seton Hill. Overall, Duquesne is 17-18 with a home record of 7-5, a road record of 7-12, a neutral site record of 3-1 and a Palumbo Center record of 6-3.

KEEPING IT KEYSTONE: Of the 12 players on Duquesne's roster, nine hail from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Vanessa Abel (Scottdale, Pa./Southmoreland), Jaclyn Babe (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), Kelly Britcher (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop), Rachel Frederick (Gibsonia, Pa./North Catholic), Alex Gensler (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), Kristi Little (Altoona, Pa./Altoona), Samantha Pollino (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley), Eve Pyle (Export, Pa./Oakland Catholic) Samantha Thompson (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil Academy). A pair of Dukes are from West Virginia in Amanda Peck and Keri Pryor - both are from Morgantown, W.Va. and Morgantown High School. Lauren Reinshuttle (Fairfax Station, Va./South County) lives the farthest from the Bluff.

WHAT A WEEK!: Not only was Little named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week during the fi nal week of the 2007-08 season, but she also became the fi rst Duke to be named the conference's defensive player of the year. Additionally, she was named to the A-10 Third Team All-Conference and All Defensive Teams.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF: Little's accomplishments last season have already translated over to this season. She was voted to the A-10's preseason All-Conference First-Team.

LUCKY 7's: Little enters the 2008-09 season with 777 career points. She needs 223 to become just the 19th member of the Duquesne 1,000 point club.

SCORING SAMANTHA: After missing all but two games her freshman season with an injury, Pollino has made an incredible return. She fi nished the 2007-08 regular season seventh in the A-10 with a .515 shooting percentage and tied for eighth in offensive rebounds with 2.5 per game. She scored in double fi gures in both of DU's exhibition games.

PRYOR ON FIRE: Pryor missed six games due to an arm injury last season, but that did not slow her down. She fi nished the season avegraging just under 10 point per game. In the two exhibition games, she averaged 11.5 ppg including a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds against Team Essence.

PECK'S IN EFFECT: One of the Dukes' most improved players last season, Peck had a strong fi nish in the exhibitation season. She had a game-high 13 points and four blocks in the Dukes' 92-40 win over Clarion.

ON THE REBOUND: After sitting out last season under NCAA transfer rules, Pyle has made quite an impression so far. She pulled down 11 rebounds in both exhibition games and added 12 points against Clarion.

ROCKIN' RACHEL: Frederick, who also sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules, is looking forward to returning to the hardwood. The junior who played her fi rst two years at Ohio University was the 2005-06 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year as well as being named to the All-MAC third team.

TERRIFIC THOMPSON: In Duquesne's two exhibition games, Thompson has shot an outstanding 8-11 fron the fl oor. Her .727 shooting percentage was the team's best.

KOOL KELLY: Britcher opened the exhibition with a 14-point effort against Team Essence. In the two games, she averaged 11 points and was 9-18 from the fl oor (9-18).

LAUREN NOT YET SCORIN': Due to a back injury, Reinshuttle was forced to miss the Dukes' two exhibition games. The sophomore came off the bench in 29 of DU's 30 games last season.

AWESOME ALEX: Gensler had a strong showing against Team Essence and Clarion. She scored 10 points in each game in just 41 total minutes.

FIRST #1: Babe is the fi rst Duquesne women's basketball player in program history to don uniform number 1. She missed the Dukes' fi rst exhibition game, but played 21 minutes and had a pair of assists against Clarion.

READY BUT NOT YET ABEL: This season, Abel will be reshirted. The 5-5 guard will be eligible for the 2009-10 season.

PRE-SEASON NOTES: The Dukes played a pair of exhibition games - Team Essence (W, 91-44) and Clarion (W, 92-40) ... DU's average margin of victory was 49.5 points ... fi ve players averaged double-digit scoring: Little (15.5), Keri Pryor (11.5), Britcher (11.0), Pollino (10.5) and Gensler (10.0) ... of Duquesne's 75 fi eld goals, 50 were assisted on (66.6%) ... the Dukes were 75-148 from the fl oor (.507) and held the opposition to 32-116 (.276) ... Duquesne was 16-37 (.432) from beyond the arc ... Duquesne took care of the ball and had an assist to turnover ratio of 1.35 to 1 (50 assists, 37 turnovers) ... DU had 30 steals to the oppoenent's 15 ... Pyle led Duquesne with 22 rebounds ... the Babe missed the Team Essence game and Reinshuttle missed both games with injuries ... Gensler and Britcher each had four 3-pointers ... Thompson shot 8-11 (.727) from the floor.