GAME 15
Duquesne (7-7, 2-1 A-10) at George Washington (7-7, 0-2 A-10)
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 | 6:00 p.m.
Washington, D.C. | Charles E. Smith Center (5,000)
Stream: ESPN+ with Byron Kerr (pxp) and Abe Rothstein (color)

GAME DAY LINKS
Video
Live Stats
DUQ Game Notes
George Washington Game Notes

OPENING TIP
-The Duquesne women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of Atlantic 10 games, first traveling to George Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 10, inside Charles E. Smith Center.

- The Dukes are coming off its first home match in 2024, where they ran into a hot shooting George Mason squad who secured a 101-75 win on Sunday (1/7) inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

- For the second time this season, Duquesne had five players finish in double-figures. Megan McConnell finished with her 17th career double-double and fourth this season, carding 17 points, 11 rebounds, and handing out seven assists. She shot 4-of-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from the charity stripe while collecting six offensive rebounds.

- Amaya Hamilton and Ayanna Townsend each finished with 12 points while Townsend collected five rebounds and went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. Hamilton scored 10 of her 12 in the second half, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor.

- Naëlle Bernard and Precious Johnson both totaled 11 points while Bernard posted her ninth game this season with 3+ triples. Johnson ended with five caroms, a season-high three steals, and two assists while shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. The five combined for 60 of the Dukes 75 points.

- It was an entertaining opening 10 minutes as both teams were red hot from the field. Duquesne opened the game shooting 63.2 percent (12-for-19) from the field while George Mason shot 58.8 percent (10-of-17).

- The Patriots hit their first three shots of the contest, two of them coming from behind the arc to take a quick 8-2 lead. Over the next two and half minutes, the Dukes found its groove, netting a 10-4 stint to knot the score at 12-all with 5:36 remaining.

- Four different Dukes found the bottom of the net during the run, led by senior Ayanna Townsend who collected a pair of baskets. After a three-point play by the Patriots, redshirt senior Lauren Wasylson and junior Megan McConnell buried back-to-back triples to give Duquesne its first lead of the afternoon, 18-15.

- The Dukes would lead by one coming out of the media timeout before scoring eight of the final 13 points to hold a 31-27 lead after one. Senior Amaya Hamilton tallied a bucket, followed by an old fashion three-point play from Townsend on the next possession. Junior Tess Myers would cap the run with a long ball for the Dukes.

- Duquesne continues its road trip when it travels to Saint Joseph's on Saturday, Jan. 13 for a league game, with the opening tip scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

The Series vs. George Washington – It'll be the 75^th overall meeting when the Dukes and Revolutionaries take the floor on Wednesday night, with George Washington holding a 59-15 mark in the all-time series. The Revolutionaries have won six consecutive games against the Dukes, including a 71-68 victory in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship a season ago. Megan McConnell had a record-setting night as her fourth rebound of the game broke the Duquesne record for most rebounds in a season. She is now the only player in Duquesne history with 300 or more rebounds in a year. She ended the night with a team-high 17 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and only one turnover. Ayanna Townsend had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Precious Johnson finished with 12 points, three boards, three assists, two blocks, and two steals.

Scouting the Revolutionaries – George Washington was selected sixth in the preseason poll while holding a 7-7 overall record and an 0-2 mark in league action. They're currently coming off back-to-back conference defeats, falling to Richmond 70-66 (12/30) before recently slipping to Saint Joseph's 67-47 last Wednesday (1/3). George Washington fell into a shooting slump in the second half, being outscored 36-20, including a 21-5 third quarter by the Hawks. Nya Lok paced GW with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-4 from behind the arc. She collected four boards and two steals while Nya Robertson chipped in 10 points and two rebounds off the bench.

The Revolutionaries are one of the top defensive teams in the conference, holding teams to just 53.4 points per contest while opposing teams are shooting just .364 percent from the floor. George Washington is led by Nya Robertson, who sits fifth in the league in scoring (15.9) while collecting 3.4 boards and 2.0 assists. She has scored in double-figures in eight contests this season and posted a career-high 30 points at Towson earlier this season. Essence Brown sits second on the team in scoring (11.9) while ranking third on the team in rebounding (4.8). She's shooting over .500 percent for the season and has netted double-digits four times this year. Brown registered a 25-point performance earlier this season against Stonehill. Nya Lok is the third Revolutionary to average double-figures, sitting at 10.0 points, 4.7 boards, 1.7 assists, and a team leading 1.3 steals per game. She's reached double-digits in four of the last five games while collecting a steal in four straight games. As a team, George Washington hasn't lost much at home as they hold a 6-1 record inside the Charles E. Smith Center while averaging 65.4 points per game at home.

George Mason Remains - The Patriots opened the second half on a 10-3 run, grabbing its largest lead of the quarter, 58-40. Duquesne wouldn't shy away as it responded by scoring 14 of the next 19 points to trim the deficit to single digits. Bernard paced the spurt with eight points, knocking down a pair of triples and two free-throws. Townsend, McConnell, and Hamilton all registered scores during the run. Out of the media timeout, the Dukes would cut the deficit to six (63-57) on a hook shot by Johnson, but that's as close they would get. George Mason would mount a 12-6 run before leading 75-65 after three quarters. In the final stanza, the Patriots would shoot 9-for-14 (64.3 percent) from the floor, including 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from behind the arc as they put together a 16-0 run in a span of four minutes to pull away. George Mason came into the game as one of the top scoring teams in the conference and they showed why. The Patriots shot 56.1 percent (37-of-66) from the field and an incredible 18-of-35 (51.4 percent) from long range. They shot 62.1 percent alone in the second half while connecting on 10 of their 18 triples.

Deadly From Deep – The Dukes continue to be one of the top shooting teams from behind the arc as their 9.1 triples per game sit second in the A-10 and 18^th in NCAA Division I. As a team, Duquesne is shooting at .340 percent clip from behind the arc, ranking them sixth in the conference. The Dukes have registered six games with 10+ threes, all in which have led to a perfect 6-0 record. Duquesne features two of the top three-point shooters in the league, Tess Myers and Naëlle Bernard. Myers is knocking down 3.00 triples per contest while shooting .402 percent from behind the arc, both in which sit second in the Atlantic 10. Her 3.00 threes per game sit 17^th in the country while her 39 total triples rank third in the league. Bernard has knocked down 40 total triples this season, ranking her second in the conference. She's connecting on 2.86 long balls per game which ranks behind Myers in the conference and 26^th in the NCAA. Bernard has recorded nine games this season where she has connected on 3+ triples.

Inching Closer – Junior Tess Myers is one of a number of players closing in on 1,000 career points for Duquesne in 2023-24. Myers enters the two-game road swing with 961 career points in four seasons with the Dukes. Seniors Amaya Hamilton (946) and Ayanna Townsend (925) also are within striking distance of the milestone heading into the road trip. Townsend has netted 399 points in two seasons with the Dukes as she totaled 526 in four seasons at Xavier. Junior Megan McConnell currently sits at 899 career points while senior Precious Johnson has totaled 873 points in five seasons with Duquesne.

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