PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's basketball team bounced back in a big way on Wednesday night, defeating the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 69-38 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
Duquesne improves to 12-5 (2-2 A-10) while SBU falls to 3-16 (0-4 A-10).
 
It was Duquesne's best defensive performance of the year by far, as it allowed just 38 points to the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure shot just 21 percent, and Duquesne stifled them all night long.
 
Sophomore guard Naelle Bernard had a career night, scoring a career-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting. She also made a career-high six three-pointers.
 
Junior guard Amaya Hamilton grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 12 points while sophomore guard Megan McConnell had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Both recorded double-doubles.
 
Junior center Precious Johnson was the third Duke with 10 or more rebounds tonight, grabbing 10 boards.
 
Junior forward Ayanna Townsend scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, making her the fourth Duke with at least 12 points tonight.
 
On the boards, Duquesne grabbed a season-high 56 rebounds compared to St. Bonaventure's 42. The Dukes were in control all night, allowing just five points in the first quarter and six in the second – for a grand total of 11 points in the first half for St. Bonaventure.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Duquesne jumped out to an 9-0 lead in this one thanks to three-pointers by Bernard and sophomore guard Tess Myers. Fast forward a couple minutes, and the Dukes had a 14-3 lead at the first quarter media timeout. Bernard had an early eight points for Duquesne.
 
Six-straight points by Townsend put the Dukes up by 15, and that's how the first quarter would end.
 
The second quarter started out low-scoring for both sides, but Duquesne still led comfortably at the media timeout, 24-8.
 
Back-to-back threes by Bernard and McConnell took the lead to 21 points, then Bernard made yet another bucket to put Duquesne up 32-9.
 
After a McConnell steal and layup as time expired in the first half, the Dukes went into halftime up 36-11.
 
McConnell picked up right where she left off in the first half, scoring right away to extend Duquesne's already big lead.
 
A shifty play by freshman guard Reilly Sunday allowed Townsend to get open, and she finished the play with the bucket and the foul to put Duquesne up by 29 points with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
 
Bernard's fourth three-pointer of the game gave Duquesne a 50-24 lead, and if there was any doubt about the result, the next three buckets by Hamilton did away with any of it.
 
Duquesne rolled its way to victory as this one didn't get any closer in the fourth quarter. In the end, the Dukes won by a final score of 69-38.

GAME NOTES

• With a team-leading 23 points tonight, Bernard has now scored 11 or more points in four-straight games. The 23 points were a career high, as well as her six three-pointers.
• McConnell scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds, which makes tonight her seventh double-double of the year.
• With 10 rebounds today, McConnell notched her 10^th double-digit rebounding effort of the year.
• Myers made two three-pointers tonight, giving her multiple threes in 15 out of 17 games this season.
• Hamilton notched her fourth double-double of the season tonight, scoring 12 and grabbing 13 rebounds.
• Tonight was Johnson's third game of the year with double digit rebounds.
• Duquesne had three players get 10 or more rebounds tonight, which is the first time that has happened this season.
• The Dukes have held their opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field in all but two games this year. SBU shot 21 percent today.
• The five points Duquesne gave up in the first quarter is the lowest total all season. It is the fourth time this campaign that the Dukes have held their opponent to single digits in the first quarter.
• Duquesne's +25 scoring margin at halftime is the second-largest this season. The 11 points against at halftime was also the lowest this season for Duquesne.
• With tonight's win, the Dukes have now won 11 out of the last 12 matchups against St. Bonaventure.
• Tonight was Duquesne's sixth game of the year with 10 or more three-pointers. The Dukes shot 10-for-30 from deep.
• Duquesne is now 10-1 at home this season.

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