PITTSBURGH – Sophomore guard
Megan McConnell's triple-double led the Duquesne Dukes over the Brown Bears, 77-69, Friday night at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne improves to 2-0 while Brown falls to 0-2.
McConnell certainly filled up the stat sheet tonight, scoring 10 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out 10 assists, blocking two shots and getting three steals on her way to her first career triple-double.
Sophomore guard
Tess Myers scored a team-high 16 points thanks to her 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior forward
Ayanna Townsend put up 13 points herself while grabbing seven rebounds.
The biggest surprise of the night was redshirt freshman guard
Olivia Westphal, who scored a career-high 12 points with three separate clutch three-pointers tonight. The 15 minutes were the most she's played in her career, as she missed last season due to injury.
Duquesne had a huge night from three, as it shot 10-19 in the second half alone to propel itself to victory. Six different players made a three tonight.
The Dukes' defense held strong as well, holding Brown to just 37.1 percent shooting from the field. Duquesne also outrebounded the Bears (44-40), had more assists (18-16) and forced more turnovers (15-13).
The Dukes jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, but Brown quickly tied it. In the blink of an eye, the Bears went on a 12-4 run to end the first quarter. The Bears led by five after one.
Brown's hot streak continued into the second quarter, as it hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to extend its run to 18-4. Brown's Isabella Mauricio hit all three shots from deep.
A quick five points from Myers and McConnell brought the deficit to just seven, as Brown led 29-22 with 4:44 left in the first half. Duquesne ended the second quarter better than it started it, as the Dukes went on an 11-4 run, aided by four points from
Ayanna Townsend.
Townsend's eight points led Duquesne at half, but it was Brown who held the lead, 37-30. Both teams were shooting just above 30 percent after one half, but the Dukes turned the ball over six times compared to just three from Brown.
Brown continued to make its threes, but a tough make by
Naelle Bernard and five points by McConnell brought some life back into Duquesne's offense. The Dukes found themselves within six again with 5:29 remaining in the third.
Then the Dukes found their three-point shot.
A Westphal three brought the Dukes within three, a
Precious Johnson three tied it up and a
Lauren Wasylson three gave the Dukes the lead at 50-49. Before you knew it, Duquesne was on a 13-2 run and had the lead.
Duquesne had one more three in it before the third quarter would end. As time expired,
Tess Myers launched a deep three-ball to get the Dukes back within one point after three quarters.
Another Westphal three-pointer started the final quarter, and Myers continued the assault from deep for the Dukes with her fourth of the game.
Like clockwork, Westphal hit another clutch three-pointer, then Myers and McConnell followed her with their own to put the Dukes up seven points.
The clock slowly ticked away as Duquesne held its lead. The final minutes included a lot of free throws and timeouts, but no play was bigger than the charge Westphal took with 58 seconds remaining to clinch the win.
GAME NOTES
- McConnell notched her first career triple-double tonight with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. She also picked up two blocks and three steals.
- With tonight's win, head coach Dan Burt is now five wins away from tying and six wins away from breaking the all-time women's basketball wins record at Duquesne.
- With the win, the Dukes are now 2-0 all-time against Brown.
- This game marks the first time since 2019-20 that Duquesne has scored 70 or more points in its first two games of the season.
- This is the first 2-0 start since 2012-13.
- From 4:31 in the third quarter to 3:58 in the fourth, nine out of Duquesne 10 made field goals were three-pointers. That was a 29-16 run in Duquesne's favor.
- Duquesne's 13 three-pointers are the most since the record-setting 19 at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 20, 2022.
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