PITTSBURGH – Five players scored in double figures to lead the Dukes to an 80-68 win over Richmond Wednesday evening at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
Duquesne (10-15, 5-8 A-10) was paced by
Precious Johnson's (Helsinborg, Sweden/Marks) first-career double-double. She finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds and added three assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
Fatou Pouye (Kaolack, Senegal/Glasgow Christian) posted a game-high 20 points,
Tess Myers (Lower Burrell, Pa./North Catholic) finished with 15 points,
Amaya Hamilton (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) totaled 12 points and eight rebounds, while
Libby Bazelak (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) chipped in 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Megan McConnell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) was the only Duquesne starter to not reach double figures with six points, but she did collect 10 rebounds and dished out six assists.
Duquesne was in a 7-6 hole five minutes into the first quarter, when they went on a quick 9-2 run to take a 15-9 lead at the three-minute mark. Duquesne maintained the lead through the rest of the period and carried a 17-14 advantage into the second quarter.
The Dukes lead was 34-30 after a Richmond trey with 2:23 to play until halftime. Duquesne closed out the period with an 8-2 spurt to take a 42-32 lead into halftime.
Richmond cut into the Duquesne advantage to make the score 44-41 with 6:44 to play in the third quarter. The Dukes quickly got the lead back to double digits two minutes later when a basket-and-one by Johnson made the score 54-43. An acrobatic layup-and-one by McConnell helped Duquesne lead by as many as 16 in the quarter, before the Dukes entered the fourth with a 61-48 cushion.
Richmond made one last push in the fourth when a three pointer made the score 69-59 with 7:01 remaining in the contest. Duquesne countered with three-straight baskets in the paint over the ensuing two minutes to rebuild the lead to 75-59 and led by double digits throughout the rest of the evening.
The Dukes posted their highest single-game point total of the season, despite shooting just 4-of-20 from three-point range. Duquesne scored 46 points in the paint and were 32 of 72 (44 percent) from the field. Richmond was 23 of 55 (42 percent) shooting and had 28 points in the paint.
Duquesne was an efficient 12 of 13 (92 percent) at the free-throw line, compared to the 13 of 22 (59 percent) showing at the charity stripe for the Spiders.
The Dukes also held the upper hand on the glass. Duquesne out-rebounded the Spiders 45 to 32, including a 15-to-7 edge in offensive rebounds which led to a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points.
Addie Budnik led Richmond with 20 points and eight rebounds.
It was the first game in which five Duquesne players scored in double figures since March 5, 2019 in a game against Rhode Island.
All 10 of Duquesne's wins this season have come by nine points or more.
The Dukes had their annual "Pink Out" game and the first 250 fans received free shirts courtesy of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and UPMC Magee-Women's Hospital.
Duquesne will travel to Western New York to take on St. Bonaventure on Sunday, Feb. 20 around noon. The game will broadcast on ESPN+.
