PITTSBURGH – In the 38th annual City Game, Duquesne picked up its ninth win in 11 seasons over rival Pitt, 81-62, on Saturday afternoon at Petersen Events Center. The 19-point margin of victory for the Dukes is largest for a Duquesne victory in City Game series history.
The Dukes (4-2) outscored Pitt (2-3) in all four quarters, led for 36:55 minutes of game time and held a 31-4 advantage in bench points to pull off the a dominant effort over the local Atlantic Coast Conference foe.
Freshman Amaya Hamilton matched her season-best with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Duquesne in points. Amanda Kalin knocked down 7-of-11 attempts from the field for 16 points. Libby Bazelak contributed 13 points, sinking half of her six attempts from 3-point land. In her first game back after suffering a concussion, Nina Aho posted near triple double numbers with 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Paige Cannon led the way off the glass with nine boards for the Dukes.
The first quarter was hard fought, with neither team leading by more than five at any point. Hamilton sunk a 3-pointer to extend the Dukes' lead to 16-11 with 3:22 remaining. The Panthers crept to within one point of the Dukes at 16-15 to 18-17, but Bazelak drained a runner at the buzzer to give Duquesne a 3-point lead after 10 minutes.
The Dukes outscored Pitt 20-11 in the second quarter, as the Dukes began the quarter on a 12-4 run to take an 11-point lead at 32-21 with just over half the quarter remaining. The Panthers cut the Dukes lead to under double-digits to six at 32-26, but the Dukes closed the half strong, as they took a 40-28 score into the locker room at halftime. Hamilton paced the Dukes with 14 of her 17 points (6-of-9 FG, 2-4 3PT) coming in the first 20 minutes.
Duquesne continued its momentum into the third quarter, as the Dukes grabbed a 20-point lead at 59-39 after a Bazelak triple with 2:52 to go in the frame. The Panthers cut the lead to 15 at 62-47 to enter the final quarter down 15.
Pitt cut the Duquesne advantage to as low as 12 on two different occasions at 62-50 and 64-52, but the Dukes would not allow the lead to slip any lower than that. Duquesne posted its largest lead of the season at 21 points at 75-54, 77-56, and 79-58, as the Dukes would go on to defeat its Steel City rival, 81-62. The Dukes posted assists on 13-of-16 field goals in the second half.
After winning nine of the last 11 meetings in the City Game series, Duquesne now trails just 21-17 in the all-time series history. The Dukes improve to 6-3 all-time against the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center. Since Duquesne's first victory over Pitt at the Civic Arena in 1995, the Dukes are 17-8 against Pitt and hold a 14-7 record against the Panthers since the turn of the century.
Duquesne completed its season-long five-game road trip with a 4-1 record and have won four consecutive games heading into the Dukes' second home game of the season against Central Connecticut State on Tuesday night. The Dukes battle the Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. at Oakland Catholic High School. Admission is free of charge.
See below for the postgame press conference, via Pittsburgh Sports Now's Zachary Weiss.
