March 1, 2008

Box Score | Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne women's basketball team extended their winning streak to four games with a 65-32 win over La Salle Saturday night. With the victory, the Dukes clinched the No. 9 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Click here for the brackets.

Jade Singleton's 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds was her fifth double-double of the season and Kristi Little finished the regular season scoring in double-digits in every game after her 12 point performance.

La Salle, who scored a season-low 35 points, converted on only 20 percent of their shots, making only 11 of 55 tries from the field.

Going into the games, the Dukes already knew they had clinched a spot in the A-10 Tournament. La Salle, on the other hand, was fighting for their playoff lives. An Explorer victory would put them in, a loss would end their season.

The lead was exchanged three times before a 13-2 run gave Duquesne a 21-11 advantage at the 8:40 mark of the first half. The Explorers would get an Ashley Gale field goal, a pair of foul shots from Carlene Hightower and a Morgan Robertson layup to get within four points (21-17) with 5:10 left in the half before the drought started.

Not only did the Dukes defense hold the Explorers scoreless the rest of the half, they did not register a point until Margaret Elderton's 3-pointer at 13:12 of the second half. During this 12-minute span, Duquesne had built a 15-point lead at 35-20.

La Salle would only make one more field goal until Jamie Walsh's 3-pointer with 1:52 left closed out the Explorers for the evening.

Hightower, La Salle's leading scorer was held to just 12 points, six under her season average. "Our plan was to take Hightower out of the game. She was Jocelyn Chandler's assignment and every time she caught the ball there were people there helping her, said head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "It was effective and I give our players credit for buying into our game plan."

Singleton's 13 rebounds tied a career-high as the Dukes dominated the glass 48-35. Amanda Peck added 10 boards in only 15 minutes.

The Dukes will have six days off until they meet No. 8 seed Richmond Friday at noon. All the games will be played at Alumni Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

"I couldn't be more proud of our players. They have exceeded all expectations. We're absolutely thrilled. This is what we talked about all season, being in the Atlantic 10 Tournament," said McConnell-Serio. "Over the course of the last two weeks, these players have stepped it up defensively and shooting the ball better. They are doing everything across the board and the confidence in each and every player has helped us turned the corner from a few weeks ago when we were 11-14."

GAME NOTES
• The last time Duquesne held a Division I opponent to 35 points or less was Mar. 11, 1992 when the Dukes defeated Massachusetts in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament 42-35
• The last time the Dukes were .500 or better was 2003-04 when they finished 16-13
• Duquesne ends a three-game losing streak to La Salle and is now 19-18 all-time against the Explorers.
• The Dukes have had only one other four-game winning streak since 2004