GAME 8
Carnegie Mellon (7-0) vs. Duquesne (5-2)
Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)

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NOTHING BUT NYLON
-The Duquesne women's basketball team opens up a five-game homestand on Sunday afternoon, welcoming Carnegie Mellon to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse with the opening tip scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

- Behind three Dukes in double figures, Duquesne is coming off its third straight victory, defeating Pitt 73-69 during the City Game inside the Petersen Events Center on Wednesday night in non-conference action. The win is the second straight victory over the Panthers while being the first win inside the Petersen Events Center since the 2019-20 campaign.

- A trio of Dukes finished in double figures tonight, led by junior Jerni Kiaku. She posted a team-best 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6%) from the floor while collecting six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

- Senior Megan McConnell registered her fourth double-double of the season and the 28th of her career, finishing with 14 points and 11 assists while playing all 40 minutes. McConnell tallied four assists, three steals, and a block while burying four three-pointers in the win.

- Graduate student Gabby Hutcherson was the final Duke in double digits, carding 10 points, two rebounds, two blocks, and one assist. The trio registered 44 of the Dukes 73 points on Wednesday.

-  Gabby Hutcherson knotted the score at 63-all with a layup before giving the Dukes a 65-63 advantage with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter. Hutcherson would go to the chalk to extend the Duquesne lead with a pair of free-throws (67-63) before the two squads went scoreless for the next two minutes.

- MaKalya Elmore cut the deficit to two with a layup before Kiaku buried a right corner triple to stretch the Dukes lead back to five. The Panthers cut the lead to three with a pair of free-throws before senior Kiandra Browne banked in a long ball as the shot clock expired the very next possession. Aislin Malcolm hit a jumper with five seconds remaining but the Dukes ran out the clock for the victory.

- The Dukes continue their homestand with a quick turnaround, hosting Bucknell on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 6:00 p.m. inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

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The Series vs. Carnegie Mellon – It'll be just the sixth meeting between the Dukes and Tartans and the first contest since 1978. Duquesne is a perfect 5-0 against Carnegie Mellon while being undefeated at home, 3-0. The last meeting was on Jan. 28, 1978, where the Dukes captured a 63-43 victory at Campus Gymnasium.

Scouting The Tartans – A Division III institution and a member of the University Athletic Association, Carnegie Mellon comes into Sunday with a perfect 8-0 record. The Tartans are most recently coming off a dominating 69-43 victory at Wooster on Friday night. Carnegie Mellon has entered the national rankings via the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll. The Tartans enter the rankings at 23rd and join three other UAA programs on the list. Carnegie Mellon is paced by Catherine Or, who is averaging 15.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while dishing out 5.8 assists. Anisha Chintala is the second Tartan averaging double figures, posting 11.9 points 3.4 steals, and shooting .500 percent from the field.

Pitt Remains - Pitt jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before a layup from Hutcherson and a three-pointer by senior guard Megan McConnell gave Duquesne a 7-6 advantage. Later in the quarter, sophomore Reina Green tied the score at 10-10 with a top of the key triple before the Dukes ended the quarter on a 9-3 stint to hold a 19-14 advantage after the opening stanza. Duquesne started the second quarter by scoring eight of the next 11 points to lead 27-18 with 5:20 to go in the half. Browne started the run with a triple, followed by a layup from Kiaku. After a bucket from Pitt, Kiaku converted an old-fashioned three-point play, to boost the Dukes lead, 27-18. The two squads traded the next 12 minutes over three minutes before Duquesne took a 35-27 advantage into the break.

Family Ties – Sunday's contest inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse is going to be a special one for the McConnell family as family ties will square off against each other on the hardwood. The head coach of Carnegie Mellon is Kathy McConnell-Miller, who is the aunt of senior guard Megan McConnell and freshman guard Kellie McConnell. Kathy, who has coached at the high school, college and professional levels, was named the head coach of the Carnegie Mellon Women's Basketball program in May 2024. As a national recruiter, McConnell-Miller has landed seven top-25 recruiting classes throughout her coaching career – at Rutgers, Illinois, Colorado and Pittsburgh.

Tickle The Twine – A big factor in why the Dukes rank second in the league and 41^st in the country in scoring offense (79.3 ppg) is because of their ability to shoot it from behind the arc. As a team, Duquesne currently sits third in NCAA Division I in three-point attempts (33.9) and fourth in triples made per game (10.7), both leading the Atlantic 10. The Dukes have registered 10+ three-pointers in five of its first seven games while producing 13 long balls three different times. Senior Megan McConnell leads the team with 19 treys while shooting it at a .404 percent clip. Her 2.7 three-pointers a game sits second in the league. Freshman Mackenzie Blackford ranks second with 11 while classmate Nadia Moore sits third with 10. Moore is shooting .556 percent from behind the arc which is good for second in the conference. Duquesne trails only Tennessee (11.2), Utah (10.8), and Utah Tech (10.8) for most three-pointers made in a game.

Put The Clamps On – Duquesne has continued to cause havoc for its opponents which has turned into great success for the Dukes this season. When holding its opponents under 70 points, Duquesne is a perfect 4-0 and posts a record of 4-1 when teams are shooting under .400 in the early going. The Dukes have caused double figure turnovers in seven straight games while leading the A-10 and sitting 18^th in the country in turnovers per game (24.29). The squad is collecting 12.6 takeaways per contest which leads the league ranks 25^th in the nation. Megan McConnell is tabbed seventh in the country with 3.57 steals per game while juniors Andjela Matic and Jerni Kiaku have posted 1.6 and 1.4 steals for Duquesne. Protecting the paint for the Dukes is graduate student Gabby Hutcherson, who sits tied for the league lead with 1.3 rejections per game while tied for third with nine blocks.

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