GAME 10 | DUQUESNE (4-5) at KENT STATE (6-1)
Wed. Dec. 8, 2021 • 7:00 p.m.
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (6,327), Kent, Ohio
TV: ESPN3

The Dukes hit the road for the first time in December and for the last time in 2021. Duquesne is looking to snap a two-game losing streak to the Golden Flashes.

THE SERIES - vs. KENT STATE

• The Dukes and Golden Flashes will be meeting for the third-straight season and 10th time overall.
• Duquesne leads the series with five wins in nine contests, but it has been Kent State who has won each of the past two head-to-head matchups.
• The Dukes claimed four-straight meetings from 2011 through 2018. Their last win in the series was a 77-72 victory at the M.A.C. Center in 2018.
• Duquesne earned its first-ever postseason win in program history when it defeated Kent State 64-56 in the opening round of the 2011 WNIT.
• Former player and current assistant coach Vanessa Abel led the Dukes with 18 points in that win.

LAST MEETING - Dec. 21, 2020

• Kent State held on for a 73-66 win over Duquesne last season.
• The Dukes trailed by as many as 18 points and fought back to within two points in the fourth quarter, but came up short.
• Laia Solé led Duquesne with a season and game-high of 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field.
• Nila Blackford (18 pts., 9 reb.), Lindsey Thall (17 pts., 7 reb.) and Katie Shumate (17 pts., 4 reb.) led the way for the Golden Flashes.
• Kent State's substantial lead in the second quarter came from a fury of made shots from beyond the 3-point line, as the Golden Flashes drilled 9-of-14 shots from long range during the first 20 minutes of play.

SCOUTING KENT STATE

• Kent State enters the night on a two-game winning-streak with wins over Penn State and St. Bonaventure.
• The Golden Flashes are 1-1 against the Atlantic 10 already this season. Before defeating the Bonnies, Kent State suffered its only loss of the season to UMass, 72-64, at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla.
• The Golden Flashes have been scorching the nets from long range this season.
• Kent State ranks 12th in Division I with 9.6 three-point field goals per game and fifth in the nation with a 41.4 three-point field goal percentage.
• Lindsey Thall leads the team with 2.71 treys per game (39th in D1) and is shooting at a 45.2 percent clip (38th in D1).
• The victory over Penn State was one of two "Power 5" wins for the Golden Flashes this season. They earned an impressive 75-69 win over then-No. 19 UCLA on Nov. 26 at the Gulf Coast Showcase.
• Thall led five players in double-figures with 20 points in the upset win over the Bruins.
• The Golden Flashes rank among the top-25 in Division I in turnovers per game (12.9/25th) and rebound margin (10.1/25th).
• Kent State was picked to finish fourth in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll released in November.

DUQUESNE vs. THE MID-AMERICAN

• The Dukes are 37-24 all-time against teams from the MAC, including a 58-47 win over Akron last month.
• DUQ is 6-4 against the MAC in its past 10 contests.
• The Dukes win over Akron this season snapped a two-game losing streak against MAC schools, which included losses to Toledo and Kent State last season.
• Duquesne won 20 out of 22 games against MAC schools from 2010-15. The Dukes defeated Kent State three times during that run.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Dukes were defeated 67-55 by Temple Sunday afternoon at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• Megan McConnell registered her second double-double of the season in the loss. She finished with a balanced line of 13 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals.
• Fatou Pouye posted a team-high 14 points with five rebounds.
• Duquesne finished shooting 20 of 61 (33 percent) from the field, including 5-of-27 (19 percent) from three-point range. Temple went 23 of 52 (44 percent) and converted 3-of-10 from beyond the arc.
• The Owls also held the edge on the free-throw line. Temple was 18 of 22 (82 percent) at the charity stripe, compared to the 10 of 19 (53 percent) showing by the Dukes.
• American Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year Mia Davis led all players with 22 points for the Owls.

TAKING AWAY THE TOP OPTION

• Duquesne held the leading scorers for Akron, Siena and Canisius below their season-average during a three-game winning-streak that was snapped by Temple.
• Akron leading scorer Jordyn Dawson (24.0 ppg.) was limited to just four points on 1-of-11 shooting against the Dukes.
• Siena leading scorer Rayshel Brown (13.5 ppg.) was held to 11 points on a 5-of-14 performance from the field.
• Canisius leading scorer Dani Haskell (16.2 ppg.) finished with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting, including zero made three-point field goals on seven attempts.
• Consequently, Temple leading scorer Mia Davis (15.4 ppg.) led all players with 22 points to help the Owls defeat the Dukes.

GUARDS ON THE GLASS

• Guards Libby Bazelak and Megan McConnell lead the team in rebounding with 5.9 rpg. apiece.
• Bazelak posted 10 rebounds in the team's win over Siena. It was the seventh game of Bazelak's career with 10 rebounds or more and just the first in which she did not record a double-double.
• Bazelak followed that performance up with a game-high nine in the win over Canisius.
• McConnell has hauled in at least three rebounds in all nine games this season, including a career-high 13 in the win over Lafayette.
• She led the Dukes with 10 rebounds in their last game versus Temple on Sunday.

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

• In addition to rebounds, Megan McConnell leads the team in both assists and steals per game and ranks second in scoring.
• She slots second in the A-10 and 35th in Division I with 5.2 assists per game.
• McConnell ranks third in the league and 48th in the nation with 2.67 steals per game.
• The Chartiers Valley product also ranks second on the team with 10.4 ppg.

BENCH BOOST

• Fatou Pouye has provided a spark off of the bench for the Dukes this season.
• After averaging just 5.0 points as a starter in the first two games of the season at UCF and Tulsa, Pouye has come off of the bench and averaged 14.3 points in the past seven games.
• The Western Kentucky graduate transfer currently leads the team with 12.4 ppg. and is shooting 50 percent from the field (45 of 90) and a team-best 36 percent from long range (8-of-22) this season.

DAILY DOUBLE

• A Dukes player has notched a double-double three times this season, including two already by guard Megan McConnell.
• McConnell posted 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Temple. She also dished out six assists.
• McConnell registered her first-career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds on Nov. 14 versus Lafayette.
• She was just one-point shy of a third double-double when she finished with nine points and a season-high 10 assists versus Canisius.
• Fatou Pouye notched her first double-double with the Dukes and fourth overall when she established a career-high with 25 points to go with 10 rebounds at Longwood on Nov. 17.
• Duquesne players only had two double doubles during the entire 2020-21 season.

APPROACHING A MILESTONE

• Laia Sole was 9-of-12 (75 percent) from the field in her 22-point outing in the team's win over Akron last week.
• Sole, who is just four points away from 1,000 for her career, was averaging 1.8 ppg. through four appearances prior to the game against the Zips.
• It was the ninth career game of 20 points or more for the native of Spain, and her first since she scored 23 at Kent State on Dec. 21, 2020.
• Sole has scored 678 points as a member of the Dukes. Before transferring to Duquesne, she was the 2016-17 America East Sixth Man of the Year as a freshman at Maine.
• She scored 318 points during her lone season with the Bears.

WELCOME BACK HALLE

• After missing each of the past two seasons, Halle Bovell made her season-debut for the Dukes vs. Pitt on Nov. 20.
• Prior to the game against Pitt, Bovell's last time on the floor in an actual game was on March 9, 2019 in an A-10 Championship Semifinal loss to Fordham at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
• She appeared in 32 games with nine starts for the Dukes in the 2018-19 season.
• Bovell went 987 days between appearances on the floor for the Dukes.

ONE MILESTONE DOWN

• Libby Bazelak became the first player since Paige Cannon in 2019 to reach 500 career rebounds when she pulled in the milestone board in the team's game versus Pitt in November.
• Bazelak, who currently ranks third all-time in school history with a .377 three-point field goal percentage, is only 89 points away from 1,000 career points.

LOCK DOWN D

• In three of their four wins, the Dukes have held opponents to under 50 points and won by double digits.
• Duquesne held an opponent to under 50 points just once during the 2020-21 season (George Mason) and did not win any games last season by double digits.

LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER

• Tess Myers ranks third on the Dukes in scoring with 10.1 ppg. and has nearly knocked down as many three-point shots through nine games this season (23) as she did during the entire 16-game 2020-21 season (25).
• She currently leads the A-10 and ranks 58th in Division I with 2.56 three-point field goals made per game.
• Tess's father, Joey starred at Duquesne from 1980-83 playing for two NIT teams. He scored 831 points as a career .455 shooter. The 6-8 forward was one of the top shooting big men in the Atlantic 10 and had the nickname "Sonar Joey Myers" for his range.
• He played in the pre-3-point era until his senior season, where he moved inside as one of the big men Duquesne had (5-13 3PT). He was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the eighth round (179th overall).