WILMINGTON, Del. – The Duquesne women's basketball team held on to win a 58-57 thriller over Loyola Chicago in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Wednesday afternoon.
Duquesne improves to 19-11 with the win. The Dukes will face No. 7 George Washington on Thursday at 5:00 P.M. ET.
The game came down to one final possession by Loyola for the win, but Duquesne's defense held firm and forced a tough look to hold on. Junior guard
Amaya Hamilton had a potential game-saving block with three seconds left.
Junior center
Precious Johnson had a game-high 13 rebounds and led Duquesne with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She grabbed four offensive rebounds and was a force in the paint all game.
Sophomore guard
Megan McConnell scored 11 points and had eight rebounds. Sophomore guard
Tess Myers and Hamilton scored 12 points each.
The Dukes shot 43.9 percent from the field and made seven three-pointers. They also outrebounded the Ramblers 42-30. Despite the close final score, Duquesne never trailed in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hamilton began with back-to-back threes for Duquesne, which jump-started a 12-4 run to start the game. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Myers put the Dukes up by 13 heading into the second quarter.
The three-pointers kept coming for the Dukes, and they were 6-for-9 from deep at the second quarter media timeout. Duquesne's defense was suffocating in the first half, as Loyola shot just 22.2 percent. With the strong defense and good three-point shooting, the Dukes took a 16-point lead into halftime.
The second half was a different story. Loyola came out firing, starting the third quarter on an 11-1 run after making five of its first six shots. The Ramblers cut the Dukes' lead down to as low as two points in the third, outscoring Duquesne 19-7. Despite the rough quarter, the Dukes still led by four going into the final 10 minutes.
Duquesne scored a few buckets early in the fourth for a little bit of a cushion, but its lead was still in single digits. A steal-and-score by McConnell followed by a layup by Johnson kept the Dukes' lead at nine points.
But that lead didn't last long. A three-point play by Loyola tied things up at 54 with just under three minutes remaining. A jumper by Myers ended up being the winning bucket, but Loyola had its chance to win too. Hamilton blocked a layup attempt with three seconds remaining, then Duquesne forced a bad look for the final shot to hold on for a 58-57 win.
GAME NOTES
- With 14 points, today marked Johnson's 14th double digit scoring effort of the season. This is also her fourth double-double of the season.
- Myers now has the third-most three-pointers in a single season at Duquesne with 88. She is five three-pointers away from breaking the single-season Duquesne record.
- Myers is now fifth all-time at Duquesne with 203 three-pointers and is 22 away from fourth.
- McConnell now ranks third in single-season rebounds at Duquesne with 295. The Duquesne record is 298.
- With seven today, Duquesne now has 241 three-pointers as a team, which is the third-most all-time in program history. The Duquesne record is 258.
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