PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne women's basketball team took down the Dayton Flyers on Thursday night, winning 70-69 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
Duquesne improves to 11-4 (1-1 A-10) while Dayton falls to 2-11 (1-1 A-10).
 
Despite shooting just 20 percent (4-for-20) from three-point range, Duquesne scored 70 points and shot 41.3 percent from the field to propel itself to victory.
 
Junior guard Amaya Hamilton led Duquesne with 21 points and 13 rebounds, notching her third double-double of the season. She shot 9-for-20 from the field and grabbed four offensive rebounds.
 
Despite getting called for three fouls in the first half, junior center Precious Johnson stayed out of trouble in the second half to end the game with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds.
 
Sophomore guard Naelle Bernard scored 17 points and led the team with two three-pointers tonight.
 
Dayton actually dominated on the boards, outrebounding Duquesne 53-41 overall and 21-9 on the offensive glass.
 
The game ended with the Dukes on top by just one point, but they led for nearly 33 of the 40 minutes. Duquesne's advantage came largely from dominating down low, as they outscored the Flyers 38-26 in the paint.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Bernard gave the Dukes an early spark, getting a steal and scoring five of the team's first nine points. Johnson scored the other four points, including a game-tying three-pointer to knot the game at 9-9 early.
 
Johnson wasn't quite done in the first quarter, as she went on to score another four points to lead Duquesne on an 11-0 run to take a 17-9 lead. She ended the first quarter with eight points while Duquesne ended it up 17-11.
 
Dayton began the second quarter on an 8-0 run to go up by two points, but Hamilton tied it up right away, answering with a layup of her own.
 
After the teams traded buckets for a few possessions, Hamilton started to heat up. Led by seven-straight points from her, the Dukes went on a 13-1 run to take a 34-25 lead. Duquesne went into halftime leading 36-27.
 
Duquesne extended its nine-point lead to 14 points as soon as the second half started thanks to two made jump shots by Bernard and freshman guard Reilly Sunday.
 
Dayton cut into the lead a little bit by getting it back within 10 points at the third quarter media timeout. Duquesne's offense stalled about midway through the third quarter and the Flyers were able to get the Dukes' lead down to eight points.
 
Despite a three-point play by Johnson, the Flyers kept making their shots and were only trailing by seven with 1:10 remaining in the third after going on an 11-3 run. As the third quarter came to an end, The Dukes led by nine at 52-43.
 
Before you knew it, Dayton was down by just three points after a few made baskets. But no matter how close Dayton got, it felt like Johnson or Hamilton was always there with a response for Duquesne.
 
Late in the final quarter, the two teams traded traveling calls, but just like before, every time Dayton made it a one-score game, Johnson responded with a bucket – just as she did with 1:03 left.
 
Bernard went to the line for two free throws with 2.2 seconds left and made one of them to put Duquesne up by four – and it's a good thing that she did. On the ensuing inbound, Dayton hit a long three-pointer to make it a one-point game, but fortunately for the Dukes, the game clock expired on the shot.


GAME NOTES

• Hamilton recorded her third double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She also played 37 minutes tonight in the absence of Ayanna Townsend, the second-most on the team.
• Bernard was one point shy of her career high tonight, scoring 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
• Johnson was 7-for-9 from the field today, scoring 16 points and securing nine rebounds. She also had three blocks.
• With 41, today marked Duquesne's 11^th game of the year with 40 or more rebounds.
• The Dukes have held their opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field in all but two games this year. Dayton shot 34.7 percent today.
• Duquesne is now 14-6 against Dayton at home and 3-1 in the last four home games against the Flyers.

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