Pittsburgh, Pa. – Battling the top team in the Atlantic 10, the Duquesne women's basketball team secured a 72-59 victory over Richmond on Wednesday night, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, the Dukes stretch their winning streak to three straight while holding an 11-8 overall mark and a 6-2 record in the league. Meanwhile, the Spiders fall to 17-4 this season while suffering its first conference loss, 7-1.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a stagnant opening five minutes as the two teams combined 3-of-13 from the floor as Richmond held an early 7-4 lead. Later in the quarter, the Spiders would push its lead to 11-8 before junior guard
Jerni Kiaku went on a 7-2 run to give the Dukes a 15-13 first quarter advantage. Kiaku was 3-of-3 from the line while shooting 2-of-3 from the floor. In the second quarter, Duquesne turned up the defensive pressure, holding the top shooting team in the conference to just 3-of-19 from the field. After a triple from Richmond, the Dukes would mount a 15-2 run, featuring five different players registering a bucket.
Senior
Amaya Hamilton started the run with a layup, followed by consecutive triples from junior
Megan McConnell and redshirt senior
Lauren Wasylson. Wasylson would follow up the next possession with a layup before Kiaku converted an old-fashion three-point play. Townsend would cap the run with a foul line jumper as the Dukes held a 30-18 advantage. Duquesne would score six of the final 11 points of the half to hold a 36-23 halftime advantage. Late in the second half, Duquesne continued to knock down shots as it grabbed its largest lead of the contest (47-26) after Bernard converted a three-point play. Richmond would end the quarter on a 6-1 to trim the deficit, 56-41 heading to the final 10 minutes. The Spiders wouldn't shy away as they trimmed the Dukes lead to 10 (57-47) with 7:12 remaining but consecutive driving layups from Hamilton pushed the lead back to 14.
QUOTABLE
"Obviously we're happy with the outcome of the game tonight and we've found some consistency with our combinations and who we're playing," head coach
Dan Burt said. "Our players played very hard against a good basketball team, who's receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and is first in our league. I'm incredibly proud of how they battled but I don't think we played necessarily crazy good. We had 22 turnovers but we played with a lot of grit and getting to those 50/50 balls made a difference. I thought we defended much better in the last couple games and have become much more committed defenders."
STIFLING DEFENSE
Richmond came into Wednesday night ranked nationally in multiple scoring categories. The Spiders led the A-10 in field goal percentage (47.1, 21st nationally), three-point percentage (37.1, 19th nationally) and three pointers per game (9, 15th nationally). The Dukes defensively held them under their season average in almost every statistical category. They held them to just 21-of-62 (33.9 percent) fROM the field, 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from deep, and its third lowest scoring total this season (59). Duquesne also outrebounded the Spiders 44-29 while registering 38 paint points to their 30.
ON A JERNI
Sophomore
Jerni Kiaku supplied a massive spark off the bench, pacing the Dukes with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. She was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe while collecting six rebounds (four offensive) and a steal. The sophomore guard scored 12 of her 18 in the first half, where at one point netted seven consecutive points for the Dukes. It's the second time Kiaku has netted double-digits this season as she posted 13 points in the victory at Dayton. The North Carolina native posted season highs in points, rebounds, and free-throws made during the win.
QUOTABLE
"
Jerni Kiaku played a fantastic basketball game all-around," Burt continued. "Her defense was good and she changed the game to be honest. There's a reason she's called "Jerni the Jet" and it's really hard for anyone to keep a defender in front of her. When she's making a mid-range jumper, pulling up off a dime at full speed, she's very hard to guard. Her practices have been outstanding, her last couple games have been outstanding and it's all starting to show."
HUNDO IN THE A-10
With the win over Richmond,
Dan Burt has now secured his 100
th career Atlantic 10 win and moves into ninth place all-time in Atlantic 10 history. He passed the great Dawn Staley, who compiled 99 A-10 victories in her eight seasons at Temple. Tonight's win also pushed his career total to 199 victories, where he'll look to get number 200 Sunday against Loyola Chicago. In his 10 seasons leading the Dukes, he has had unprecedented success in both the Atlantic 10 Conference as well as nationally. It took only 149 games for Burt to claim his 100th career victory, the 15th fastest to that feat in NCAA women's basketball history. Duquesne has earned 11 postseason appearances and 10 20-win seasons in the 15 campaigns in the Steel City.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Besides Kiaku, three other Dukes finished in double-figures.
Amaya Hamilton finishes with 16 points on 50.0 percent shooting (6-of-12) while collecting six rebounds, three assists, and three blocks.
Ayanna Townsend finished with 14 points and eight rebounds while
Megan McConnell tallied her 19
th career double-double and sixth of the season. She posted a season-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points and three triples.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns back to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse when it welcomes Loyola Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 28, for a conference match, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
