GAME 13
Duquesne (6-6, 1-0 A-10) at Dayton (6-6, 0-1 A-10)
Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023 | 8:00 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio| UD Arena (13,409)

GAME DAY LINKS
Video
Live Stats
DUQ Game Notes
Dayton Game Notes

OPENING TIP
- The Duquesne women's basketball team resumes Atlantic 10 play, when it travels to Dayton, Ohio to take on the Flyers on Saturday, Dec. 30.

- The Dukes are coming off the conclusion of the Tulane Holiday Tournament, where they dropped a pair of contests. Duquesne fell to Maine on the opening day, 80-72 before falling to Little Rock, 63-52 on the final day.

- Against the Black Bears, a trio of Dukes finished in double-figures, led by Megan McConnell. She finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor while dishing out nine assists, grabbing five boards, and recording a block and a steal.

-  Nae Bernard ended with 15 points, all coming from long range as she finished 5-for-8 (62.5 percent) from deep while collecting three rebounds. Ayanna Townsend was the final Duke in double-digits, netting 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including five rebounds, one block, and a steal. The trio combined for 45 of Duquesne's 72 points while shooting 56.3 percent (18-for-32) from the field.

- Tess Myers finished with nine points, all coming off three triples while dishing out three assists. Amaya Hamilton registered eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and a steal against the Black Bears.

- Against the Trojans, freshman Gabby Grantham-Medley paced the Dukes with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) shooting from the floor. She collected three rebounds, one block, one assist, and buried a triple in 25 minutes off the bench.

- Tess Myers finished with 12 points on four three-pointers while senior Amaya Hamilton ended with three assists. Classmate Ayanna Townsend collected five rebounds while Jerni Kiaku corralled four boards and Precious Johnson tallied three blocks.

- It was a different story in the second half as the Trojans shot 50.0 percent (12-of-28) from the floor and outscored the Dukes 38-26. Little Rock did its damage in the third quarter, when it opened the second half on a 10-4 run to hold a 35-30 lead with 6:27 remaining.

- Junior Megan McConnell was selected to the all-tournament team for her performance over the two-day span. She averaged 15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 52.2 percent (12-for-23).

- Duquesne will return home on Jan. 7, when it hosts George Mason for an A-10 contest inside the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

The Series vs. Dayton – It'll be the 49^th meeting when the Dukes and Flyers take the floor on Saturday night, with Dayton holding a 25-23 edge in the all-time series. Duquesne snapped a three-game skid against the Flyers, securing the season sweep during the 2022-23 campaign. In Ohio, the Dukes erased a 19-point deficit while shooting over 50.0 percent from the floor while holding the Flyers to 38.0 percent shooting. Tess Myers tied her career-high of 23 points, doing so on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. She was also 5-for-8 from deep and pitched in with four assists. Megan McConnell scored 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting while grabbing six rebounds, dishing out nine assists and racking up six steals, which ties a season high. Precious Johnson registered 12 points while Amaya Hamilton had 11 as they both grabbed six rebounds. Lauren Wasylson and Ayanna Townsend each had 10 points during the win. In the series, the Dukes are averaging over 67 points per game while being 9-16 on the road.

Scouting the Flyers – A member of the Atlantic 10 conference, Dayton was picked ninth in the preseason poll while Mariah Perez earned A-10 preseason third team honors. The Flyers are coming off a 70-53 defeat at Vanderbilt (12/20) right before the holiday break. Ivy Wolf paced the way with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor, including five triples. She also dished out three assists and recorded three steals. Anyssa Jones was the second Flyer in double-digits, registering 15 points, with a pair of three-pointers. Jones collected three rebounds while tallying an assist and a steal.

Dayton is led by junior Ivy Wolf, who is averaging over 12.0 points per game while shooting .397 from behind the arc. Wolf currently sits fifth in the league with 2.6 triples per contest while her 29 total three-pointers rank fourth. She sits tied for seventh in the league with 3.5 assists per game while totaling 38 on the season. Dayton features three players averaging over 9.0 points per contest, Destiny Bohanon (9.8), Anyssa Jones (9.3) and Arianna Smith (9.2). Smith is averaging 11.4 rebounds while corralling 4.7 offensive boards per game, both in which lead the conference. She has tallied seven games with double-digit rebounds, including a 21-rebound performance against Ohio Dominican.

Tournament Leftovers – In its first contest against Maine, the Dukes started to find its groove in the second half, shooting 60.0 percent (15-for-25) from the floor and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from behind the arc. Duquesne started the third stanza by scoring eight straight points to trim the deficit 44-40. Junior Tess Myers drilled consecutive triples before a jumper from senior Ayanna Townsend capped the stint. The Dukes inside presence continued to stay consistent, registering 34 points in the paint.

Against the Trojans, the tables had turned against the Dukes in the second half. Leading 26-25, Little Rock shot 50.0 percent (12-of-28) from the floor and outscored the Dukes 38-26. The Trojans did its damage in the third quarter, when it opened the second half on a 10-4 run to hold a 35-30 lead with 6:27 remaining. After a layup by Johnson that cut the deficit to three, the Trojans netted 12 of the final 18 points to push its lead to 47-38. Duquesne would get as close as four in the final quarter, off a jumper from Grantham-Medley and a triple by Myers but the Trojans continued to hit shots as they pushed their lead to as many as 13.

All-Tourney - Junior Megan McConnell was selected to the all-tournament team for her performance over the two-day span. She averaged 15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.0 steals while shooting 52.2 percent (12-for-23) in the two-day span. The junior guard began the tournament registering 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds, one block and one steal against Maine. Against Little Rock, she finished with 12 points, nine boards, dished out two assists, and collected a steal while shooting 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from the floor. The Pittsburgh native continues to lead the country in minutes played (38.88) while leading the conference in total steals (31) and assist/turnover ratio (3.06). She's averaging over 13.0 points per game while securing 8.1 boards, 4.6 assists, and 2.6 steals.

5 For 1,000 Alex - Duquesne has a rare feature that not many schools in the country have and that's five 1,000-point scorers on the same team. Tess Myers is the closest so far, sitting at 956 while Amaya Hamilton is right behind her at 931. Ayanna Townsend has registered 903 career points while Megan McConnell has totaled 878. Precious Johnson is the last Duke chasing the honor, as she has carded 858 points in her career. Myers sits 12^th in the country in total three-pointers (38) while sitting 19^th in triples per contest (3.17). Hamilton is averaging 9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals while Townsend sits at 6.2 points, 3.8 boards, and shooting .435 percent from the floor. McConnell leads the Dukes in scoring (13.0), rebounds (8.1), assists (4.6), and steals per contest (2.6) while Johnson ranks fourth in the A-10 in blocks per game (1.58) and total rejections (19).

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