PITTSBURGH – After a thrilling victory on senior day over Fordham, the Duquesne women's basketball team will complete the regular season on the road against St. Bonaventure on Saturday. The opening tip in Olean, N.Y. is set for 1:00 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- The contest will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
- Live stats are available on gobonnies.com.
- Follow @DuqWBB on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates from Olean, N.Y.Â
THE SERIES
- The Dukes look to sweep the Bonnies, as Duquesne downed St. Bonaventure 58-39 on Jan. 30 at La Roche University.
- The Dukes doubled up the Bonnies as a result in the all-time series as a result, leading 40-20 overall against its closest Atlantic 10 conference foe.
- The Bonnies hold a 15-11 advantage in Olean.
- Duquesne has won the last six meetings and have earned victories in 9 of the past 11 meetings since 2013.
LAST TIME OUT
- Holding a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Duquesne women's basketball team scored 31 points in the fourth quarter to seal a 74-63 victory over Fordham on Senior Night at the UPMC Events Center on campus of Robert Morris University.
- Libby Bazelak (21 pts., 6 reb., 7-13 FG) and Laia Solé (20 pts., 7-9 FG, 6 reb.), combined for 41 points and 12 rebounds in win.
- After being honored during the pregame festivities, Paige Cannon recorded her seventh career double-double, matching her career-best with 15 rebounds, while pouring in 15 points on 5-9 shooting from the field.Â
- Senior Night honorees Nina Aho (7 pts., 3 reb., 4 ast), Angela Staffileno (3 pts.) and Cannon combined for 25 points, 19 rebounds 10 assists in the effort.
STAT CHECK
- Libby Bazelak continues to shoot at an efficient rate from long distance, posting a 46.3 3-point field goal percentage. The mark is the best in the conference and ranks fourth nationally.
- Over the past five games, Paige Cannon has stepped up her game statistically, is tying for second on the team with 12.2 points per game. The redshirt senior and captain has cleaned the glass with a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game during that span.
- The charity-stripe has been a major strength over the past five games for the Dukes, combining to shoot 78-95 (82.1%) against Richmond (15-18), Davidson (21-26) Rhode Island (14-17), George Washington (13-15) and Fordham (15-19). Bazelak (19-21 FT), Laia Solé (21-29), Amaya Hamilton (9-11), Amanda Kalin (8-11) and Paige Cannon (12-13) have led the way.Â
- The Dukes offense continues to be the best in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 69.5 points per game. Duquesne's 42.2 percent field goal percentage, 35.3 clip from 3-point land and 15.7 assists per game leads the conference, as well. The Dukes are coming off a 74-63 win over the best defensive team in league in Fordham. Fordham's 74 points allowed is tied for the most points given up by the Rams all season.
- The balanced Duquesne offense has had five different players record 20-plus points on 11 different occasions this season. Bazelak (4x) (Solé 4x), Cannon (1x) Kalin (1x) and Staffileno (1x) have all reached the milestone at least once this season.
- Despite not having an on-campus arena this season, the Dukes are now 10-3 at 'home' sites which include La Roche University (7-2), PPG Paints Arena (1-1) and Oakland Catholic High School (1-0) and Robert Morris University (1-0). The Dukes have outscored its opponents by an average margin of 10.4 points per game at home. The Dukes are shooting at a .458 clip at home, and have limited the opposition to shoot just .380 from the field and .282 from long range. Solé leads the team in scoring (15.2 ppg), field goal percentage (.544) at home, While Bazelak has averaged 14.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists while shooting at a 53.3 percent clip and a 51.9 percent mark from 3-point land. The Dukes have now recorded 10-plus home wins over its past six seasons, and have reached the 10-win mark at home in nine of the past 10 seasons.
- In the Dukes' 10 losses this season, six have come by five points or less. Only Temple, Oklahoma State, Dayton and George Washington have defeated the Dukes by more than five points this season.
A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
- With Saint Louis defeating Richmond on Wednesday, the Dukes (18-10, 8-7 A10) clinched a home game in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships.
- The game will be played on Tues. March 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at La Roche University's Kerr Fitness Center. Admission will be free.
- The opponent is to be determined. The Dukes can finish as high as the fifth seed or as low as the eighth seed depending on the outcome of Saturday's games. Possible opponents include George Washington (7-8 A10), Richmond (7-8 A10), La Salle (6-9 A10) and Rhode Island (6-9 A10).
- The winner of Tuesday's games will advance to Dayton for the quarterfinal round through the championship game at UD Arena.
SCOTING ST. BONAVENTURE
- The Bonnies enter the contest on a four-game losing streak with losses to VCU, Rhode Island, Richmond and Dayton.
- The Reilly Center has been kind to the Bonnies this year, with 6-of-7 wins this season coming in Olean. St. Bonaventure has yet to win a road game this season.
- From the charity-stripe, the Bonnies are second in the conference and 12th nationally, shooting a combined 77.7 percentage on free throws.
- St. Bonaventure limits mistakes, ranking third and 69th in the country in fewest turnovers this season.
- Asianae Johnson leads the Bonnies with 12.4 points per game.
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