Duquesne Season Review

The record-breaking 2015-16 season was the most successful in Duquesne women's basketball history. The Dukes under 3rd year head coach Dan Burt made history with their first-ever berth in the NCAA Tournament with a program record 28 win. Duquesne also won a share of the Atlantic 10 regular season title and advanced to the conference championship game -- both program firsts.

The season opened with a lopsided 63-38 victory at Saint Peter's on Nov. 13th. The Dukes remained on the road to play #25 Princeton two days later. The Tigers, a NCAA Tournament team, cruised to a 94-66 victory. This would be the last loss for Duquesne until mid-January. On Nov. 20th, the Dukes started their program-best 15-game winning streak with a 73-65 win at Lafayette.

The home opener on Nov. 24th saw Duquesne defeat Howard 86-62, extending their Palumbo winning streak to 13 straight games. They would hit the road to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the two-day UNM Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 27th and 28th. The Dukes were crowned champions after defeating MEAC champion North Carolina A&T 81-67 and WBI participant New Mexico 78-69.

A pair of MAC schools were up next -- Duquesne defeated WNIT participant Central Michigan 68-49 on Dec. 3rd and MAC champion Buffalo 79-62 on Dec. 6th.

Duquesne returned home for four straight game beginning with a 95-59 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Dec. 9th. The kept rolling with a 64-47 win over WNIT participant Ohio on Dec. 9th, a 79-54 win over Slippery Rock on Dec. 15th and a convincing 76-57 victory over #25 and Big East champion St. John's.

The Dukes closed out the non-conference portion of the season with The City Game on Dec. 30th. Duquesne took the game 79-65, marking the sixth time in seven years the Dukes have been crowned City Champions.

The start of conference play began against WNIT bound Dayton on Jan. 3rd in a nationally televised game at Palumbo. The Dukes led from beginning-to-end in their 89-58 win. In that game, April Robinson recorded the third triple-double in program history with 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Duquesne defeated George Mason 72-56 on Jan. 7th before returning back home for another TV game against Fordham on Jan. 10th. The Dukes extended their home winning streak to 19 game after defeating the Rams 55-40.

Another Rams waited for Duquesne, this time it was Rhode Island on Jan. 13th. Prior to the game, the USA Today/Coaches Poll ranked Duquesne #25. This was the Dukes' first-ever national ranking. The Dukes went to Kingston, R.I. and brought home a 79-70 win.

Duquesne returned home to the Palumbo Center on Jan. 17th to face defending A-10 champion George Washington. The Colonials halted the Dukes' wining steak at 15 and home winning streak at 19 in their 70-52 win.

The Dukes responded with seven straight wins beginning with a 74-62 win against NCAA participant St. Bonaventure on Jan. 23rd. Up next was a pair of game in Richmond, Va. beginning with the University of Richmond on Jan. 28th. The Dukes defeated the Spiders 65-44. Three days later the Dukes defeated WNIT participant VCU 71-67. The biggest scare of the season came on Feb. 3rd when Duquesne needed overtime to defeat Massachusetts 73-64. This was the 20th win of the season for the Dukes, marking the eighth straight season Duquesne has reached the 20-win mark.

On Feb. 6th, the Dukes handily defeated Davidson on the road 77-62. Duquesne returned home and made it a season sweep of Rhode Island 61-56 on Feb. 10th followed by a 73-59 victory over Saint Joseph's on Feb. 13th.

The toughest road trip of the season followed beginning Feb. 18th at Saint Louis. A last second shot didn't fall for the Dukes as the Billikens came away with an 84-81 win. Duquesne remained on the road to face Dayton at UD Arena on Feb. 21st. For the first time since 2004, Duquesne swept the Flyers with a 76-72 overtime win on national television. 2016 Senior Night against La Salle was Feb. 28th in which Robinson, Deva'Nyar Workman and Emilie Gronas -- the winningest senior class of all-time with 95 wins - were honored. Duquesne was a 74-49 winner. The final regular season game of the season was Feb. 28th at St. Bonaventure. If Duquesne won, they would win the A-10 regular season title outright. However, they ran into a hot shooting Bonnies team who won 60-48.

Duquesne received the #3 seed at the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship. After receiving a bye into the quarterfinal round, the Dukes drew Fordham. Highlighted by a 20 point, 17 rebound effort by Workman, Duquesne advanced into the second straight semifinal round, wining 70-65. The Dukes would meet Saint Louis again in the semis. With the game tied at 50-50 with 1:34 remaining, the Dukes would score six straight points and only give up one last-second field goal to close out the game 56-52 and advance to the championship game for the first time in program history. Duquesne would draw #1 seed George Washington in the championship game. In another heartbreaker, a shot at the buzzer did not fall giving GW the 63-60 win.

Selection Monday was on March 14th. For the first time in program history, the Duquesne women's basketball team was selected to play in the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes were selected as an at-large bid as a #9 seed in the Bridgeport Region and will play #8 seed Seton Hall at the University of Connecticut. The Dukes hosted a watch party at the The Rivertowne Brewing Hall of Fame Club at PNC Park where over 400 fans, student-athletes, family members, coaches and staff showed their support of the program.

On March 19th, Duquesne took the floor for the first time as a NCAA Tournament team. They easily handled Seton Hall, scoring a season-high points, with their 97-76 victory. Advancing into the Second Round, the Dukes would run into the eventual NCAA champions and #1 overall seed UConn. Duquesne hung tough with the Huskies, leading the game for 1:44 -- the only team to have a lead against UConn in the entire tournament. The Huskies won the contest 97-51.

Individually, Duquesne took home several awards and honors. Robinson was one of 52 All-Region nominees for the 2016 WBCA Division I Coaches' All-America Team. She was one of 14 others players on the Region I team. The senior point guard was the 2016 A-10 Co-Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference honoree, finished the 2015-16 season averaging 14.9 points per game and 6.4 assists per game. Robinson completed her degree in December and was a member of the A-10's All-Academic team. A Lieberman Award finalist, Robinson finished her career 5th all-time in scoring with 1,598 points, 2nd all-time in assists with 578, 1st all-time with 249 3-pointers and 133 games started/played.

Workman was the Dukes' first-ever Atlantic 10 Sixth Woman of the Year as well as being named to the A-10's and First-Team All-Conference and All-Defensive team. After averaging 16.3 points per game and 10.3 points per game in the A-10 Tournament, she was named to the All-Championship Team.

Freshman Kadri-Ann Lass set a program record by winning the A-10 Rookie of the Week seven times. She was named to the league's All-Rookie Team. She joined Workman on the All-Championship Team. Lass also broke a single-season school record with eight blocks against UMass.

Fellow freshman Chassidy Omogrosso was also named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team. She was named Rookie of the Week two times this season.

In addition to setting a program record for overall wins and conference wins, the Dukes set new team records by recording 2,441 points, 879 field goals, 2,157 attempts, 257 3-pointers, 766 3-point attempts and 1,437 rebounds.