Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne women's basketball team opened a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon, dropping a 74-57 decision to Delaware at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in non-conference action.
With the loss, the Dukes fall to 3-3 overall while the Blue Hens improve to 4-3 this season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a quick start for Delaware as they hit their first three shots of the contest, jumping out to an early 6-2 lead. Duquesne would respond with an 8-2 spurt to claim a 10-8 advantage with 5:56 to go in the opening frame. Junior guard
Nae Bernard sparked the run with a triple before senior guard
Amaya Hamilton followed with a three of her own. Senior forward
Precious Johnson would cap the run with a foul line jumper for the Dukes. The two teams continued to trade buckets as junior guard
Megan McConnell and Bernard buried triples to give Duquesne a 20-18 lead before a Sydney Boone three-pointer gave the Blue Hens a 21-20 advantage after one. The second quarter was all Delaware as they outscored Duquesne 19-3 while the Dukes shot 1-of-15 from the field to trail 40-23 at the half.
Duquesne would find their stroke in the second half as they registered a 42.9 percent clip (15-for-35) from the floor. The Dukes would trim the Blue Hens lead to 13 three different times in the third quarter before getting as close as 10 after a driving layup from junior guard
Kiandra Browne in the fourth.
QUOTABLE
"Delaware played harder than we did in all facets of the game and they were a very physical well coached team and they deserved it more than we did," head coach
Dan Burt said. "We were not ready for their physicality and we were not ready for their toughness and you could see that with the different lineup changes that we had throughout the game. There's a lot of work for us to do, especially as we welcome Fordham for our first Atlantic 10 game who is a similar team in terms of toughness and athleticism."
THE DIFFERENCE AT THE LINE
Using its physicality to its advantage, getting to the foul line was a big difference for the Blue Hens. Delaware shot 30 free-throws in the contest whereas the Dukes only got to the line six times. The Blue Hens finished 23-of-30 from the charity stripe, a big portion of that coming in the fourth quarter where they shot 78.6 percent (11-for-14). Delaware only attempted eight shots in the final frame as at one point, they shot 10 straight free-throws in a span of four minutes.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Bernard was the lone Duke in double-figures carding 13 points, one assist, one steal, and three triples. Browne finished with nine points, all coming in the second half, where she was 4-of-6 from the field and collected a pair of rebounds. Hamilton chipped in eight points, four boards, and two assists, while McConnell carded eight points, six assists, four caroms, and a pair of steals. Senior center
Ayanna Townsend totaled a team-high eight rebounds and two blocks while junior guard
Tess Myers collected five boards and a rejection.
UP NEXT
Duquesne opens Atlantic 10 play on Tuesday, Dec. 5, when it welcomes Fordham to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, with the opening tip set for 6:00 p.m.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne women's basketball, follow
@DuqWBB on Twitter (X) and Instagram all season.
