Pittsburgh, Pa. – Behind four Dukes in double figures and forcing a record-breaking number of turnovers, the Duquesne women's basketball team throttled Niagara, 100-65 on Saturday night inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse during non-conference action. The Dukes improved to 2-1 on the season while scoring 100 points for the first time since 2019.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
The Dukes came out of the gates clicking on all cylinders, hitting its first four shots and grabbing a 9-2 lead in the early going. Junior Jerni Kiaku paced the Duquesne with four points during the run. Later in the quarter, the Dukes pushed its lead to double digits off five straight points from freshman Nadia Moore before classmate Mackenzie Blackford led a 9-4 stint to stretch the Duquesne lead, 29-13. After a bucket from senior Kiandra Browne, Blackford converted a pair of layups before connecting on a long ball to cap the stint as Duquesne held a 31-17 advantage after one. After a layup from graduate student Gabby Hutcherson started the second quarter, Niagara strung together a 13-5 stint to trim the deficit to single digits (38-30) with 4:12 remaining in the half. Duquesne would respond later in the quarter, ending the half on a 7-3 run. Blackford buried another triple while McConnell and Kiaku each tallied points to give the Dukes a 52-38 halftime break.

CREATING CHAOS
Despite scoring 100 points for the first time since 2019, Duquesne did its work on the defensive side of the ball as well. The Dukes forced Niagara into 38 miscues, the most in program history and the most in the Dan Burt era. Duquesne collected 25 steals during the win, the most under Burt and tied the most in program history. 10 different Dukes registered a steal, led by Megan McConnell who posted a season-high seven steals while junior Andjela Matic carded a career-high five takeaways during the win. Jerni Kiaku and Mackenzie Blackford each tallied a trio of steals for the Dukes. Duquesne held the Purple Eagles to just .357 percent (20-of-56) shooting from the floor and 5-of-20 (.250 percent) from behind the arc. The Dukes did its damage in the second half, holding them to just 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) from the field and 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from long distance.

ON A JERNI
Jerni Kiaku has taken on a bigger role this season and continues to show speed and quickness. Kiaku finished with a season-high 24 points on an impressive 10-of-12 (83.3 percent) shooting from the floor. She ended with five assists, three steals, and two rebounds while going 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. The junior got off to a fast start, registering eight points in the opening quarter on 4-of-4 shooting before chipping in seven points to begin the second half on 3-of-3 shooting. The North Carolina native is averaging 15.7 points per game while shooting .633 percent from the field. She's carded double figures in all three contests this season while sitting second on the team in scoring and field goal percentage.

YOUNG GUN RISING
In just her second game inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, freshman Mackenzie Blackford strung together an impressive performance in just 16 minutes of action. She finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting (62.5 percent) while going 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) from long range. Blackford dished out four assists while doing it on the defensive end as well, registering three steals. The freshman recorded seven points in just 4:23 in the opening quarter while dishing out three dimes and a steal. Blackford was one of four Dukes to finish in double figures tonight.

QUOTABLE
"Obviously, we're happy to always get a win, and to do it in pretty convincing fashion, and to put 100 points on the board is always a good feeling," head coach Dan Burt said. "We knew that this game was going to be a very interesting game because of the way that Niagara plays and they're a team that forces you to play very helter skelter and to rush things. We knew we were going to turn them over, and they were going to turn us over. 27 turnovers are a little much for my liking. I wanted to be around 20 and to force 30 but we had 27 and we forced 38 so we'll live with it and take the win."

THE BOX SCORE
Joining Kiaku and Blackford in double digits was Megan McConnell and Gabby Hutcherson. McConnell finished with 15 points, seven steals, six assists, five rebounds, and buried a pair of triples. Hutcherson netted 10 points, three boards, one steal, and one assists while connecting on a pair of threes. Freshman Nadia Moore ended with nine points and five rebounds while Kaitlyn Ammons finished with eight points and a steal. As a team, the Dukes finished 37-of-66 (56.1 percent) shooting from the floor while knocking down 10 triples for the third straight game. Defense turned to offense as Duquesne registered 45 points off turnovers while getting 44 points from its bench and 39 points on fast breaks. The Dukes also totaled 50 points in the paint. Three of the last four 100 point games have come against the Purple Eagles (2008, 2009).

UP NEXT
Duquesne hits the road when it travels to Kent, Ohio to battle Kent State on Wednesday, Nov. 20, with the opening tip scheduled for 7:00 p.m.