March 18, 2009

Game Notes

2009 WNIT First Round
Duquesne (20-11, 9-5 Atlantic 10 Conference) vs. Butler (19-11, 14-4 Horizon League)
Thursday, March 19, 2009 - 7:00 P.M. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) - Pittsburgh, Pa.

STREAMING AUDIO: Red Zone Media's Alex Panormios and Tad Maurey will call all the action

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2009 WNIT Championship: The Women's National Invitation Tournament began play in 1969. Amarillo, Texas was the host site for the tournament until 1998 when schools began to host. Wayland Baptist College won the tournament's first nine titles (1969-1977). From 1998 to 2005, the field was 32 teams. In 2006, it was 40 teams and since 2007 has been expanded to 48 teams with the top 16 receiving first-round byes.

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTING: Thursday night marks the first-ever post-season game for the Duquesne women's basketball program. The 2008-09 season also marks the first time the Dukes have reached 20 wins.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Coming off a 81-57 loss to Charlotte in the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals ... finished the regular season with a program record six straight A-10 wins ... winners of eight of their last 10.

BUTLER LATELY: Finished second in the Horizon League with a 14-4 record ... upset by seven-seed Milwaukee in the conference tournament ... won seven of their past 10 games.

WE HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON: The Dukes and Bulldogs have two common opponents - Dayton and IPFW. Both team loss to the Flyers (Duquesne 77-75, Butler 69-49) and defeated the Mastodons (Duquesne 77-64, Butler 72-56).

DUQUESNE'S HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORDS AGAINST TEAMS IN THE 2009 WNIT: The Dukes are 2-4 against 2008-09 opponents that are in the WNIT this season.

Dayton: 0-1
George Washington: 0-1
Richmond: 1-0
St. Bonaventure: 1-1
West Virginia: 0-1

DID YOU KNOW: Duquesne and Butler were in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference together during the 1992-93 season?