PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's basketball team looks to end 2020 on the right foot, as the Dukes (2-1, 1-0 Atlantic 10) face a pair of Mid-American Conference foes in Toledo (3-1, 1-1 MAC) and Kent State (2-2, 2-0 MAC) to close out the current non-conference schedule. Duquesne faces Toledo on Friday, Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Savage Arena, before heading to Kent State on Monday, Dec. 21 for a 1:00 p.m. tip at the MAC Center.

HOW TO FOLLOW | DUQUESNE VS. TOLEDO – 12/18 5:30 P.M.

• Duquesne's matchup against Toledo on Friday night will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
• Fans can listen to the Toledo radio broadcast between the Dukes and Rockets via TuneIn. Duquesne alumnus Jim Heller '89 will be on the call.
• Live Stats are available on utrockets.com.

HOW TO FOLLOW | DUQUESNE VS. KENT STATE – 12/21 1:00 P.M.

• The Dukes and Golden Flashes contest will also be broadcasted on ESPN+.
• A radio broadcast is available on TuneIn.
• Fans can follow live stats on kentstatesports.com.

THE SERIES

• The Dukes are 3-4 all-time against the Rockets, but lead the series against KSU by a mark of 5-3
• Duquesne split last season's meetings with these teams. The Dukes fell to Kent State on a buzzer-beater floater at PPG Paints Arena in the season opener (77-75) on Nov. 5, 2019. Duquesne held on to a 79-74 victory over Toledo pm Dec. 7, 2019 at La Roche University.
• Against the MAC, the Dukes are 36-22 all-time, earning victories in 16 of the past 20 contests in which  Dan Burt has been the head coach of Duquesne.
• Toledo is 3-0 against the Dukes at Savage Arena.
• Duquesne is 2-1 against Kent State at the MAC Center.

LAST TIME OUT

• Trailing 51-46 early on in the fourth quarter, the Duquesne women's basketball team responded with an 18-2 scoring run which propelled the Dukes to a 71-63 victory over St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener on Friday, Dec. 11 at La Roche University. The Dukes (2-1, 1-0) sunk 8 of its 13 attempts from the floor during the final quarter, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Graduate student Kiersten Elliott supplied eight of her career and game-high 15 points during the fourth frame. The Dukes made the most of the Bonnies' (0-1, 0-1) mistakes with 32 points off turnovers. Elliott's career-day came on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.

MCCONNELL HONORED

• After scoring nine points and distributing six assists during her Atlantic 10 debut against St. Bonaventure, the A-10 announced on Monday afternoon that Megan McConnell was selected as the conference's Rookie of the Week. McConnell appeared in 26 minutes off the bench, helping run the Dukes' offense. Her nine points and six assists are season-bests for the Pittsburgh native out of Chartiers Valley High School. She also earned a rebound, a block and took away possession twice from the Bonnies with a pair of steals.  Through three games in her career, she is averaging 6.3 points and has just one turnover in 64 minutes of action. She is currently tied for the team-lead with Amanda Kalin with 2.7 assists per game.
• McConnell is the first Duke to win conference rookie of the week since Nina Aho earned the honor on Nov. 11, 2016. Megan's brother, T.J., earned rookie of the week from the Atlantic 10 on five occasions during his freshman season at Duquesne in 2010-11.

• Duquesne enters the weekend ranked 11^th in the nation in blocked shots per game (6.7, 1^st in A10) and 31^st in free throw percentage (77.3%, 1^st in A10).
• With nine blocks over her past two games, Precious Johnson enters the weekend ranked eighth in the country in blocks per game (3.33).

SCOUTING TOLEDO

• After wins against Oakland (W, 71-59), Detroit Mercy (W, 75-65) and Northern Illinois (W, 82-79) to begin the season, the Rockets (3-1, 1-1 MAC) fell to Kent State (L, 57-61) in its first loss of the year in its most recent contest on Dec. 13 at Savage Arena.
• Sophia Wiard leads Toledo with an impressive 21.3 points per game, which ranks 34^th nationally and fourth in the MAC. She tied a school-record with 42 points on 16-of-25 shooting against Northern Illinois.
• Quinesha Lockett supplements the offense with 16.9 points per game.
• Toledo ranks 37^th nationally in steals per game (11.0), 48^th in turnovers per game (13.5), 72^nd in assist/turnover ratio (1.02), 74^th in 3-point field goals attempted (25.9) and 77^th in both blocked shots per game (4.0) and turnovers forced (19.0).

SCOUTING KENT STATE

• The Golden Flashes are 2-2 this season and have near identical schedule to Duquesne with three common opponents in its first four games this season  in Ohio State, (L, 47-103), Saint Francis Pa. (L, 64-67) and Toledo (W, 61-57). KSU earned its first win of the season in its MAC opener against Ohio (W, 84-80).
• The three-headed balanced attack of Nila Blackford (13.8 ppg), Mariah Modkins (10.5 ppg) and Lindsey Thall (10.0 ppg) lead Kent State in scoring. Blackford leads the MAC with 9.5 boards per game.
• Kent State made a school record 16 3-pointers in its win over Ohio, converting an impressive 16-of-28 from long range.

COMING UP

• After taking on the Rockets and Golden Flashes, Duquesne is currently scheduled to resume Atlantic 10 play with a weekend trip to Saint Louis (Jan. 1) and Dayton (Jan. 3) after the holidays.