Saint Louis, Mo. – Behind five Dukes in double figures, the Duquesne women's basketball team secured an 82-65 victory at Saint Louis on Saturday night in league action, inside Chaifetz Arena. With the win, the Dukes extended its winning streak to five straight, improving to 17-9 overall while posting a 12-3 mark in A-10 play. The 12 conference victories are the most since the 2017-18 campaign.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
It was a blistering start for Duquesne, as it hit six of their first seven shots to begin the contest, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Juniors Naelle Bernard and Tess Myers started the run with consecutive triples before senior Ayanna Townsend found the bottom of the net. After a Saint Louis bucket, Bernard knocked down her second triple of the quarter. A driving layup by junior Megan McConnell and a three-point play by senior Precious Johnson gave the Dukes an early 16-8 lead. Later in the quarter, Duquesne would continue to stay consistent, ending the first 10 minutes on an 8-1 stint. Redshirt senior Lauren Wasylson sparked the run with an ole fashion three-point play before Townsend converted a layup. Myers would cap the stint with a triple to give the Dukes a 24-13 lead after one. It was a stagnant second quarter as both teams shot under 30.0 percent. The Dukes jumped out to a 31-17 lead before the Billikens scored six of the next nine points over a two-minute span to trim the deficit, 43-23 with 2:14 remaining. Townsend would net back-to-back buckets as Duquesne held a 38-26 advantage at the break.

QUOTABLE
"Very excited about the direction our team is going and certainly our play this evening," head coach Dan Burt said. "We led for all 40-minutes and played very composed and very mature. We had 44 points in the paint, five players in double figures, and really liked what we had going tonight. We make it very hard for teams to prepare for us because every game we do something different defensively and then from an offensive standpoint, we have kids that can score the basketball. We're hard to prepare for because we have kids that are skilled but also have kids that care about one another and cheer for one another."

BILLIKENS DOWN
Saint Louis came into the contest as the third highest scoring team in the league at 71.7 and the Dukes gave them problems. Duquesne held the Billikens to just 16.7 percent (3-for-18) in the second quarter while holding them to just 33.3 percent (6-of-18) in the third stanza. The Dukes began the second half on a 9-2 stint, where four different players found the bottom of the net. Saint Louis responded by scoring six straight points to cut the Dukes lead (47-34), with 4:53 remaining in the quarter. The two squads traded the next 14 points before layups from Johnson and Townsend gave the Dukes a 58-44 lead after three. Duquesne would cruise in the final stanza, shooting over 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the floor while grabbing its largest lead of the contests, 74-54. Seven different Dukes registered a bucket in the final frame while as a team, they shot 7-of-8 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

QUOTABLE
"We gave up some buckets late but we defended really well all game long," Burt continued. "I think coach Bell and coach Frank did a great job of putting together a game plan for defending them and our kids executed it very well. Saint Louis is a team that likes to outscore you and we certainly were hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the floor."

BALANCED EFFORT
It was a balanced scoring effort from the Dukes, as five players finished in double figures for the third time this season. Naelle Bernard led the way with 13 points and three triples. She collected a season-high eight rebounds while tallying a block and a steal. Tess Myers, Ayanna Townsend, and Precious Johnson all finished with 12 points each while Myers went 4-of-8 from the deep and corralled six rebounds. Townsend registered six rebounds and two steals while Johnson went 4-of-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Megan McConnell was the final Duke in double digits, posting 10 points, five rebounds, and three steals during the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Lauren Wasylson chipped in nine points, with a pair of triples while Amaya Hamiton tallied eight points, five boards, five assists, and a block. Jerni Kiaku rounded out the scoring with six points and three caroms. Duquesne showed its dominance inside, registering 44 points in the paint while collecting 22 points off 15 Billikens turnovers.

UP NEXT
Duquesne returns home when it hosts George Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 21, for its Education Game, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Opening-tip is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.