PITTSBURGH – After a dominant victory over Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 Championship First Round, the Duquesne women's basketball team heads to Dayton in hopes of capturing its first Atlantic 10 Championship. The sixth-seed Dukes (20-10, 9-7) will battle third-seed Fordham in the A-10 Championship quarterfinal round on Friday night at UD Arena. The opening tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

A10 SEMIFINAL AND CHAMPIONSHIP: Should the Dukes defeat Fordham, Duquesne would battle the winner of two seed VCU and seventh seed Davidson in the semifinal round on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that matchup advances to A-10 Championship game on Sunday at noon. Possible foes in the championship game include, first-seed Dayton, fourth-seed Saint Louis, fifth-seed UMass and ninth-seed Richmond

HOW TO FOLLOW

• The A-10 quarterfinal contest against Fordham will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Live stats are available on Atlantic10.com for all games. Follow @DuqWBB on Twitter and Instagram for live updates from UD Arena.
• Should Duquesne advance to the A-10 Semifinals, the contest between VCU/Davidson will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network on Saturday, March 7 at 1:30 p.m.
• The A-10 Championship Game will be broadcasted on Sunday, March 8 at noon on ESPNU.

THE SERIES

• Overall the Dukes lead the all-time series over Fordham by a mark of 22-9, with Duquesne taking a 74-63 win on Feb. 25 at Robert Morris' UPMC Events Center in Moon Township.
• Libby Bazelak (21 pts.) and Laia Solé (20 pts.) combined for 41 points and 12 rebounds in the victory on senior night. Paige Cannon supplied her seventh career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The Dukes' 31 points in the fourth quarter marked the second most points in a single quarter this season. Duquesne posted 32 points in the third quarter against La Salle on Jan. 11. Fordham, who entered the game as the league's most stout defense (55.37 points allowed per game), allowed 74 points, tying the most points allowed this season (L, 62-74 @Davidson, Jan. 8).
• The quarterfinal matchup is a battle of the A-10's best offense (Duquesne, 69.8 ppg) and the conference's best defense (55.0 points per game allowed).
• The Dukes look to avoid having their season ended by Fordham for the second consecutive season. Fordham posted a 76-34 win over Duquesne in the A-10 Semifinals at the Palumbo Center last season in Pittsburgh. Fordham went on the to win the A-10 Championship and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• Duquesne's last win over Fordham in the A-10 Championships came in the 2015-16 season, when the Dukes downed the Rams 70-65 in the first round of the A-10's. Duquesne went on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and won its first-ever NCAA tournament game against Seton Hall, before bowing out to eventual undefeated national champion UConn.  

LAST TIME OUT

• Paced by a career-best performance offensively from Amanda Kalin, the sixth seed Duquesne women's basketball team cruised to a 70-53 victory over 11th seed Rhode Island in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships. The Dukes advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal round and will face third seed Fordham on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at UD Arena. Kalin recorded 24 points on an impressive 11-of-13 shooting from the field and seven rebounds off the glass paced the Dukes (20-10). The Rams (13-16) were led by Nicole Jorgensen's impressive 31-point outing on 12-of-17 shooting. Laia Solé also registered double-figures in scoring, sinking 6-of-13 attempts from the field for 12 points. She also grabbed seven boards. Libby Bazelak stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds and six assists. Amaya Hamilton added eight points off the bench.

• On Thursday, the Atlantic 10 announced that Libby Bazelak (All-Conference Second Team, All-Academic) and Nina Aho (All-Defensive Team) earned all-conference honors.
• Bazelak led Duquesne in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rgp), assists (3.8 apg) and steals (1.4) during the 2019-20 campaign, while also ranking as one of the top-five most efficient 3-point shooters nationally (46.2 percent). She started in all 29 games for Duquesne, reaching double-figures in scoring in all but three games, while posting four double-doubles. Overall, she led the Dukes in scoring in 10 games, rebounding in 12 games, and assists in 10 games. The Kettering, Ohio native posted 20-plus points on four different occasions, including a career-best 23 points against then undefeated in conference VCU on Feb. 2.  Currently, Bazelak ranks ninth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, eighth in rebounding, 10th in field goal percentage, first in 3-point field goal percentage, sixth in assists, ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio and third in minutes. In the classroom, Bazelak is just as impressive, posting a 3.83 GPA as a physician's assistant studies major. She has earned Dean's List, Director of athletics' Honor Roll and Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll. She is the first Duke to be named to the all-academic team since April Robinson in 2016.
• Nina Aho started all 28 games she appeared in, missing two games to injury. The Budapest, Hungary native a thorn in the side of opposing offenses all season, registering 25 steals. She was a major cog in the defense that allowed the opposition to shoot just 37.6 percent from the floor and 28.8 percent from beyond the arc.

• Duquesne is 7-1 against the five foes on its half of the bracket, with a 3-point loss against Davidson representing the only blemish combined against the Wildcats (0-1), VCU (1-0), Fordham (1-0), La Salle (1-0) Saint Joseph's (2-0) and Rhode Island (2-0).
• Libby Bazelak continues to shoot at an efficient rate from long distance, posting a 44.9 3-point field goal percentage. The mark is the best in the conference and ranks ninth nationally.
• With a win over Rhode Island in the A-10 First Round, the Dukes secured a 20-win season for the 10th time over the past 12 seasons. Prior to 2008-09, Duquesne had never reached the 20-win mark since the program began in 1974.
• The Dukes offense continues to be the best in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 69.8 points per game. Duquesne's 42.7 percent field goal percentage, 35.6 percent clip from 3-point land and 15.8 assists per game leads the conference, as well.
• Since falling to George Washington on Feb. 22, the Duquesne offense has fired on all cylinders, defeating Fordham and St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island by an average of 17 points, while scoring 74.7 points per game. Duquesne's offense has combined to shoot 48.6 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point land, while holding the opposition to shoot just 35.6 percent and 20.4 percent from long range. The Dukes have taken care of possession, turning the ball over an average of just 10.3 times per game.
• With a win over URI, the Dukes are now 4-0 on the season against teams with Rams mascots (Fordham 1-0, VCU 1-0, Rhode Island 2-0).
• Despite not having an on-campus arena this season, the Dukes are now 11-3 at 'home' sites which include La Roche University (8-2), PPG Paints Arena (1-1), Oakland Catholic High School (1-0) and Robert Morris University (1-0). The Dukes have outscored its opponents by an average margin of 10.9 points per game at home. The Dukes are shooting at a .460 clip at home, and have limited the opposition to shoot just .383 from the field and .275 from long range. Solé leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and in field goal percentage (.537) at home, While Bazelak has averaged 14.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists while shooting at a 51.9 percent clip and a 48.3 percent mark from 3-point land. The Dukes have now recorded 10-plus home wins during its past six seasons, and have reached the 10-win mark at home in nine of the past 10 seasons.
• Among all home tenants at La Roche's Kerr Fitness Center this season, Duquesne women's basketball (8-2), Duquesne men's basketball (3-0), La Roche women's basketball (12-1) and La Roche men's basketball (12-0) have combined for a 35-3 record at home. Only UMass women's basketball, George Washington women's basketball and Carnegie Mellon women's basketball (vs. La Roche) have escaped the Kerr Fitness Center with wins. The La Roche men and La Roche women's teams secured Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships at the Kerr Fitness Center against Penn St. Behrend (62-61) and Hilbert (88-69), respectively last weekend.
• 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.