PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's basketball team took down the Howard Bison on Wednesday afternoon, winning 68-55.
 
With the win, Duquesne improves to 10-3 while Howard falls to 3-9.
 
Sophomore guard Tess Myers, currently the national leader in three-pointers in Division-I, had another great game to lead Duquesne. She hit six threes and had 21 points on 6-for-12 shooting from long range.
 
Junior center Precious Johnson hauled in a career-high 15 rebounds and added a career-high six assists. She scored nine points.
 
Sophomore guard Megan McConnell scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, recorded four assists and had four rebounds despite leaving the game early.
 
Duquesne out-rebounded Howard 45-39 and had 20 assists compared to Howard's 13. Its largest lead of the game was 25 points and it never trailed.
 
The Dukes' defense was stout once again, holding Howard to just 30.6 percent shooting from the field and 22.2 percent shooting from three-point range.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Duquesne started its final non-conference game on fire.
 
The game began with three-straight three-pointers by the Dukes – two from Myers and another from sophomore guard Megan McConnell – to put Duquesne up 9-0 right away.
 
Myers hit a deep two-pointer a few possessions later to give the Dukes an 11-point lead to begin the game. Five points by Howard cut into the early lead, but Duquesne still led 11-5 at the first media timeout.
 
McConnell blocked a shot and took it all the way down the other end for a layup, then redshirt junior Lauren Wasylson drilled a three-pointer to get Duquesne's lead back up to 11 points.
 
As time was trickling away in the first quarter, Myers knocked down a deep three-pointer at the buzzer. The Dukes ended the first quarter on a 12-2 run and led 23-7 after 10 minutes.
 
A beautiful give-and-go by Johnson and freshman guard Reilly Sunday got the Dukes going in the second quarter, then Myers' fourth three-pointer of the game extended the lead to 20 points.
 
Like clockwork, Myers got her feet set in the corner and drilled yet another three-ball – her fifth of the game. Howard had no answer for Duquesne's sharpshooter.
 
Sophomore guard Naelle Bernard hit a three-pointer of her own to give Duquesne a 22-point advantage. Going into halftime, the Dukes led 41-21.
 
Neither team did much offensively early on in the second half, scoring a combined three points in the first three minutes. The scoring drought didn't last very long though, as McConnell and Myers each hit a three-pointer to get the lead up to 25 points.
 
A few made three-pointers by Howard cut into Duquesne's lead to get it below 20 points, but Bernard answered with another bucket to keep the Dukes up big. At the end of the third quarter, Duquesne led 56-38.
 
The fourth quarter was much of the same – Howard made a few shots, but not nearly enough to threaten Duquesne's lead.
 
Duquesne's offense didn't light it up in the final frame, but buckets from Sunday, Wasylson and Johnson kept the Dukes' lead high enough to leave little doubt surrounding the outcome of today's matchup.
 
Despite Howard cutting Duquesne's lead down to 13, the Dukes won today's matchup comfortably.


GAME NOTES

• With six more today, Myers has made multiple three-pointers in every game this season. She leads the team with 47.
• She is the nationally leader in three-pointers in NCAA Division-I.
• In her last two games, Myers had made 13 three-balls and is 13-for-22 from beyond-the-arc.
• Duquesne's nine three-pointers in the first half are the most it has had all year and is more than it has had in six games total.
• Duquesne made 12 three-pointers for the second game in a row. This is the fifth time the Dukes have made 10 or more threes in a game this season.
• With the win, Duquesne is now 6-0 all-time against Howard.
• Johnson recorded a career-high 15 rebounds as well as a career-high six assists.
• Duquesne's 20 assists today were the second-most the team has recorded this season.

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