Pittsburgh, Pa. – Senior Ayanna Townsend eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau and head coach Dan Burt captured his 200^th career win as the Duquesne women's basketball team rolled to a 73-57 victory over Loyola Chicago on Sunday afternoon in A-10 action, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

With the win, the Dukes extend its streak to four consecutive games and improve to 12-8 overall and 7-2 in conference action. Meanwhile, the Ramblers drop to 11-9 this season, with a 5-4 mark in league play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was an up and down first quarter as Loyola Chicago jumped out to an early 10-6 advantage. Duquesne would answer as they closed the opening quarter on a 14-2 spurt to hold a 20-12 lead. Senior Precious Johnson and redshirt senior Lauren Wasylosn paced the run as Johnson recorded seven points and was 3-of-3 from the field. Wasylosn registered five points during the stint, connecting on a pair of baskets. In the second quarter, the Dukes grabbed a 29-18 lead with 5:10 to go in the half. Out of the media timeout, the Rambles trimmed the deficit by scoring six of the next nine points, to trail 32-24 with just under three minutes remaining. Townsend and junior Naëlle Bernard would score the final seven points for Duquesne as it held a 39-29 lead at the break.

The Dukes opened the second half by scoring seven of the opening 10 points, to extend its lead 44-31. Junior Megan McConnell sparked the spurt with a triple and a layup before Johnson capped it with a bucket. The two squads would trade the next 10 points before Duquesne held a 55-41 advantage heading to the final 10 minutes. In the final frame, junior Tess Myers would bury a long ball to give the Dukes its biggest lead of the afternoon (64-43) as they held the Ramblers to just 29.4 percent shooting in the quarter.

QUOTABLE
"Really good win today," Burt said. "The fact that we won all four quarters is really important against a good team. For us, we've kind of shortened our rotation and found success today with Precious Johnson and Ayanna Townsend coming in and dominating the post. Combined they were 11-of-17 and I thought that they had a lot thrown at them and they had a lot of success by just keeping it simple. Just a really good all-around performance from our team, and we'll enjoy it till midnight."

1K CLUB
In a span of a week, the Dukes have featured three players surpassing the 1,000 point milestone as they added another this afternoon. With a foul line jumper at the 1:14 mark in the second quarter, Ayanna Townsend concurred the honor and became the 35^th player in program history to do so. She was one of four Dukes to finish in double-figures, ending with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds, one steal, and one block. Townsend has scored over 475 points in two seasons with Duquesne and now has 1,001 career points. The Pittsburgh native extended her streak to four straight games in double-digits while reaching double-figures in seven of her last eight games.

MR. 200
Already the winningest head coach in program history, Dan Burt has become the first coach in the program to eclipse 200 career wins at Duquesne. Just four days ago, Burt captured his 100^th Atlantic 10 victory with a 72-59 win over Richmond to move into the top 10 in conference history. He holds an all-time record of 200-127 (.612) in his 11 seasons as a head coach while posting a 101-63 (.624) mark in conference games. As a head and assistant coach, Burt has compiled an all-time record of 323-195 (.624). Burt's time on the Bluff has brought unmatched success. The Dukes have earned 11 postseason appearances and 10 20-win seasons in the 15 seasons in the Steel City.

QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of the program that we built because we treat people the right way," Burt continued. "We do things the right way and that's in the classroom and on that court. I think the parents can say that their daughters are going to be very well taken care of and they're going to be challenged in both the classroom and on the court. Like I've said, I grew up playing basketball in a barn and I never thought this was going to happen. I'm really lucky."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Senior Precious Johnson paced four dukes in double-digits with her second double-double of the season. She posted a season-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor while collecting 11 boards (five offensive), four blocks, and three assists. Megan McConnell fell shy of a near triple-double, registering 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in 39 minutes. She netted 10 of her 14 in the second half, going 4-of-7 from the field. Naëlle Bernard was the third Duke in double-figures, ending with 11 points with three triples and two rebounds. Tess Myers totaled nine points on three long balls while tallying six rebounds and two assists.

UP NEXT
Duquesne hits the road when it travels to Richmond, Virginia, to take on VCU on Wednesday, Jan. 31 in A-10 action, with the opening-tip scheduled for 11:00 a.m.