PITTSBURGH – Libby Bazelak (Kettering, Ohio/Bishop Alter) eclipsed 1,000 career points and turned in the fifth triple-double in Duquesne women's basketball history to lead the Dukes to a 68-47 win over La Salle Sunday afternoon at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Bazelak finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds (five offensive) and 10 assists to lead Duquesne (9-11, 4-4 A-10), who are winners of three-straight. She becomes the fifth Duke to achieve the mark, joining
Amanda Kalin (15 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists – 1/11/20 vs. La Salle), April Robinson (17 pts. 10 reb. 11 ast. - 1/3/16 vs. Dayton), Orsi Szecsi (16 pts. 12 reb. 10 ast - 11/24/13 at Morehead State) Korie Hlede (29 pts. 11 reb. 11 ast – 12/8/94 vs. Cleveland State) who all registered a triple-double in a Duquesne uniform.
Bazelak was one of four Duquesne players to score in double figures in the victory.
Tess Myers (Lower Burrell, Pa./North Catholic) finished with 20 points and five boards,
Precious Johnson (Helsinborg, Sweden/Marks) posted 12 points, while
Megan McConnell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) posted 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.
The Dukes led La Salle (11-8, 4-3 A-10) wire-to-wire in the victory. Myers knocked down a pair of treys in the first three minutes to give Duquesne a 10-3 advantage early in the game., but the Explorers managed to draw even at 10-10 at the 5:33-mark of the first quarter. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, before a Johnson three pointer in the final minute made the score 20-16 after one quarter of play.
The Dukes kept adding to their lead in the second quarter, leading by as many as 13, 35-22, on a Bazelak three pointer with 22 seconds to play in the first half that pushed her past the 1,000-point plateau. La Salle answered back with a three pointer of their own right before the horn to send Duquesne into the locker rooms with a 35-25 lead.
The Dukes dominated the third quarter. Duquesne maintained a double-digit lead and out-scored the Explorers 18-7 to head into the fourth ahead 53-32. Bazelak sat at eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists through 30 minutes of play.
La Salle went on a 13-3 run to slice the Duquesne lead to 56-45 with 4:25 to play in the game. Bazelak managed to reach a double-double on the next possession when she made a pair of offensive rebounds, with a put-back basket on the second offensive board that made the score 58-45 with 3:54 remaining in the contest. The second-chance points spurred an 11-3 run to close out the game, capped off with a basket by Johnson off of a pass from Bazelak for her 10
th assist of the game with 1:10 left on the clock.
Duquesne shot 26 of 62 (42 percent), including 10 of 31 (32 percent) from long range. La Salle was 20 of 55 (36 percent) and just 5-of-28 (18 percent) from beyond-the-arc. The Dukes also out-rebounded the Explorers 38 to 33.
Duquesne assisted on 22 of the 26 converted field goals, with five different players notching a dime. The 22 assists are a season-high for the Dukes.
Bazelak is the 32
nd player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark, joining teammate
Laia Sole (Igualada, Spain / INS Joaquim Blume) who eclipsed the milestone earlier this season at Kent State.
The Dukes limited La Salle leading scorer Kayla Spruill (15.3 ppg.) to seven points on 3-of-8 shooting. Gabby Crawford led the Explorers with 21 points off of the bench.
Duquesne won for the fifth time this season while holding an opponent to less than 50 points. Six of the Dukes 10 wins this season have been by double digits.
Duquesne will put its three-game winning-steak on the line on Wednesday, Feb. 2 when it travels to take on Dayton. The game will tip at 7 p.m. and broadcast on ESPN+.
