GAME 30 | DUQUESNE (18-11, 8-8) vs. LOYOLA CHICAGO (6-23, 1-15)
Wed. March. 1, 2023 • 2:30 p.m.
CHASE Fieldhouse | Wilmington, Del. 
TV: ESPN+

No. 10 Duquesne is set to take on No. 15 Loyola Chicago in the first round of the A-10 Championship on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 P.M. ET.

DUQUESNE IN THE A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP

• Duquesne has a 29-37 record in the A-10 Championship.
• The Dukes were the runner-ups in 2016 and 2017.
• Last season they lost in the second round to Saint Joseph's.

THE SERIES - vs. LOYOLA CHICAGO

• Duquesne and Loyola Chicago have played just once on Feb. 22, 2023.

SCOUTING LOYOLA CHICAGO

• Loyola is 6-23 overall and 1-13 in the A-10. It is on a 15-game losing streak.
• The Ramblers are 2-0 on a neutral court this year.
• Maya Chandler leads the team in scoring (10.5) and Sitori Tanin leads the team in rebounds (6.3), steals (1.2) and blocks (0.8).
• Allison Guth is in her 1st season leading the Ramblers as the head coach.

LAST MATCHUP - Feb. 22, 2023

• Duquesne beat Loyola 71-61 on Feb. 22, breaking the program record for home wins in a season (14).
• Precious Johnson led the team with a career-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.
• Amaya Hamilton had 16 points while Ayanna Townsend had 12. 

LAST TIME OUT

• Duquesne lost on the road to Saint Joseph's in a heartbreaker, 64-60.
• Tess Myers and Precious Johnson each had 12 points.

STAT CHECK

• Megan McConnell is one of two players in Division-I to have multiple triple-doubles this year. Her 8.3 defensive rebounds per game rank eighth in the nation and her 9.9 rebounds per game rank 27th in the nation. Her 66 steals are the 37th-most in the country and her 158 assists lead the A-10 and rank 16th nationally. 
• Tess Myers ranks 10th in the nation in three pointers with 86 and 13th in three-pointers per game with 2.97. Her 90 total threes last season led the conference and ranked 14th in the nation. 
• The Dukes rank second in the A-10 in rebounds per game (41.1, 31st in nation) and lead the A-10 in defensive rebounds per game (29.9, 12th in nation). Their field goal percentage defense (35.7%) ranks first in the conference and 17th nationally.

MS. TRIPLE-DOUBLE

• Megan McConnell is one of two players in Division-I to have multiple triple-doubles this season. She also has 12 double-doubles this year.
• Her first came on Nov. 11 against Brown. She scored 10 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out 10 assists.
• Her second came against Delaware on Dec. 4 when she had 12 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. 
• She is just the second player in A-10 women's basketball history to have multiple triple-doubles in the same season. 
• She is the first Duquesne women's basketball player to have multiple triple-doubles in their career - let alone 23 days apart.
• Only one other player has had three triple-doubles in a season in A-10 history - Megan's aunt, Susie McConnell (Penn State, 3, 1988).

A-10 ELITE

• Since taking over as head coach in 2013-14, Dan Burt has led the Dukes to 187 wins. Only Fordham (199) and Dayton (198) have amassed more wins during that span among A-10 teams.
• The Dukes are also one of four Atlantic 10 programs to post a winning season in at least seven of the past nine seasons (Dayton, Fordham, & VCU). 
• Coming into the season, Duquesne was also tied for the third-most A-10 wins (86) since Burt took over as head coach.
• Since 2013-14, the Dukes have led the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (2x), scoring margin, field goal percentage (2x), free throw percentage and assists per game (3x).
• Duquesne has ranked at least fifth in the conference in points per game, field goal percentage and assists per game in all but one season since 2014-15. 

LOCK DOWN D

• Duquesne ranks 17th in the country and first in the conference in field goal percentage defense, with opposing teams shooting just 35.7 percent against the Dukes.
• The Dukes are second in the conference with 4.2 blocks per game. 
• The Dukes held opponents to under 50 points five times last season and won eight games by double digits. They have won 12 games by double-digits already this year.
• Duquesne held an opponent to under 50 points just once during the previous 2020-21 season (George Mason) and did not win any games in 2020-21 by double digits.
• This year, the Dukes have held three teams to under 50 points.
• In the Jan. 11 win over St. Bonaventure, Duquesne held the Bonnies to 11 points at half, 21% shooting overall, and just 38 points total.

BEASTS ON THE BOARDS

• Megan McConnell ranks second in the A-10 with 9.9 rebounds per game, which ranks 27th nationally. Her 8.3 defensive rebounds per game rank eighth in the nation. Her 287 total rebounds are the 16th-most nationally.
• She set a career high with 18 rebounds against Richmond on Feb. 18 and is 11 away from the single-season Duquesne record (298).
• McConnell hauled in at least five rebounds in 22 games last season. She has five or more in 28 out of 29 games so far this year, and has 16 games with double digit rebounds.
• Precious Johnson ranks second on the team and 13th in the conference with 7.0 rebounds per game. 
• Duquesne's 29.9 defensive rebounds per game rank 12th in the country. The Dukes' 41.2 rebounds per game rank second in the conference and rank 31st in the nation.
• The Dukes secured a season-high 56 rebounds against St. Bonaventure on Jan. 11, 2022, the most since  Nov. 26, 2019 against Central Connecticut State (57).

RAINING TREYS

• The Dukes rank 34th in the nation and third in the A-10 with 8.1 three-pointers per game.
• Tess Myers ranks 13th in the country with 2.97 threes per game and her 86 three-pointers rank 10th in the country.
• She already ranks 5th in Duquesne history with 201 threes and will move into 4th-place with 24 more.
• Myers has made at least two threes in all but six games this season.
• Duquesne has made 10 or more threes nine different times this year, passing last year's total. 
• This year's team has hit 12 or more threes six times already, five more times than last year's team.
• Duquesne set the Duquesne and A-10 record with 20 three-pointers against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 15, 2023. They shot 60.6 percent from deep. This game came almost exactly one year after the Dukes hit 19 threes against the Bonnies on Feb. 20, 2022.
• Last year's team made 214 three-pointers, which is tied for the fifth-most in Duquesne history. This year's team has 234 right now, which is the third-most in Duquesne history.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER

• Through 29 games, Duquesne ranks highly in the A-10 in scoring offense (68.7 ppg, 6th), scoring margin (+4.9, 6th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.06, 4th). In the first game of the year, Duquesne put up 94 points and hit that number again on Feb. 15 at St. Bonaventure when they set the A-10 record for most threes in a game (20).
• The Dukes rank 34th in the nation and third in the A-10 with 8.1 three-pointers per game.
• The Dukes have scored 80 or more points six times this year.

LET ME ASSIST YOU

• The Dukes have at least 13 assists in 19 of 29 games this year and rank fourth in the A-10 with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.06.
• Duquesne had 23 assists against Richmond on Feb. 18, the most this season and most since the 21-22 season-high of 24 against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 20, 2022. 
• Megan McConnell leads the team with 5.4 assists per game, which leads the conference and ranks 18th nationally.
• Duquesne posted double-digit assist totals in each of the last 27 games to end the 2021-22 campaign. 
• The Dukes led the A-10 with 14.79 assists per game last season.

CLUTCH IN CRUNCH TIME

• Duquesne was 0-12 last season in games decided by eight points or less, but it is 8-6 this year.
• The Dukes were also winless in the 12 games in which they trailed heading into the fourth quarter, a streak which was also snapped just two games into this season as they trailed 54-53 against Brown on Nov. 11 after three quarters.
• Tess Myers has been clutch late in the game this season. She hit the game-winning three-pointer against Vermont on Dec. 10, scored the last seven points in the six-point win over Kent State on Dec. 7, scored three of the last four points in the five-point win against Marshall on Nov. 27 and hit the go-ahead three with eight seconds left against Davidson.
• They are 15-1 when leading after three quarters this year.

FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and updates for Duquesne women's basketball, follow @DuqWBB on Twitter and Instagram.