Olean, N.Y. – Opening a two-game road swing, the Duquesne University women's basketball team earned a 66-50 triumph at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night inside the Reilly Center, during Atlantic 10 action. With the win, the Dukes improve to 16-9 overall while recording an 11-3 mark in league action.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a stale opening four minutes for both squads as they combined 1-for-11 from the field and Duquesne had four turnovers. St. Bonaventure (4-20, 1-12 A-10) would jump out to an early 7-1 lead before the Dukes scored 10 consecutive points to gain its first lead of the contest, 11-7. Junior
Megan McConnell paced the charge with eight of Duquesne's 10 points. She buried a pair of free-throws to begin the run before sophomore
Jerni Kiaku connected on a bucket. McConnell would cap the stint with back-to-back triples before the Dukes held an 11-9 lead after one.
NOTHING BY NYLON
Duquesne flipped the script in the second quarter, shooting an impressive 66.7 percent (10-of-15) from the field while going 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) from long range. In the opening four minutes, the Dukes went on a 12-4 run, nine coming from McConnell. She connected on three straight triples to stretch the lead to 20-13 before freshman
Gabby Grantham-Medley went coast to coast and finished a three-point play to cap the stint. Later in the quarter, Duquesne kept the momentum rolling, putting together an 11-0 spurt over a three-minute span. Senior
Precious Johnson sparked the stint with consecutive jumpers before five points from redshirt senior
Lauren Wasylson and a driving layup from Kiaku pushed the Dukes lead to 34-13. Duquesne would take a 36-16 advantage into the break. The Dukes would hold the Bonnies to just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from the field while holding them without a field goal for the remaining seven minutes of the half.
QUOTABLE
"We just had a very distinct advantage in the post and they really don't have a post player," head coach
Dan Burt said. "That actually creates problems for us. As many problems as we can give them from a post standpoint, it forces our centers to have to guard on the perimeter. We were able to be fairly effective in that second quarter and shots were able to fall for us. I thought
Gabby Grantham-Medley played very well with her post entries and just her composure. She's certainly not a freshman anymore."
THE TRIO
Three Dukes finished in double-figures, led by
Megan McConnell, she posted her seventh double-double of the season. She finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor while tying her career-high with five triples. McConnell netted 18 of her 20 points in the first half, finishing 5-of-8 from the floor and 5-for-5 from behind the arc. She collected 13 rebounds while dishing out five assists and four steals in the win.
Precious Johnson chipped in 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field while
Jerni Kiaku ended with 10 points, four rebounds, one steal, and one block.
QUOTABLE
"A win is a win," continued Burt. "We're not happy with how we finished the game in the fourth quarter, and to have 25 turnovers in this game is very disappointing. But we still went on the road and won the game. A big thanks to
Megan McConnell with 20 points and 13 rebounds,
Precious Johnson with her 12 points, and
Jerni Kiaku with 10. We played well for three quarters and just disappointed in the fourth quarter."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Amaya Hamilton,
Gabby Grantham-Medley, and
Lauren Wasylson all finished with five points as Grantham-Medley tallied five rebounds and five assists. Duquesne used its size advantage and dominated on the glass, collecting a 46-25 advantage on the glass. The Dukes corralled 14 offensive rebounds while recording 34 bench points.
UP NEXT
Duquesne concludes its road stint when it travels to Saint Louis on Saturday, Feb.17, with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT.
