Pittsburgh, Pa. – Despite a late run by Rhode Island, the Duquesne women's basketball team secured a 70-61 victory on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic 10 action, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, the Dukes improve to 13-9 overall, behind an 8-3 record in league action.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
It was a defensive slugfest in the opening half as neither team shot it well from the floor. Duquesne shot just 33.3 percent (9-for-27) from the field while Rhode Island (15-9 / 7-4 A-10) netted just 21.4 percent (6-for-28). The Rams opened the contest on a 7-0 run before the Dukes scored eight straight points to take its first lead of the game, 8-7. Junior guard
Megan McConnell netted six points during the stint. Rhode Island would regain the lead later in the quarter before senior
Amaya Hamilton converted a three-point play to knot the score at 15-all after one. From the 2:36 mark in the first quarter to the 3:18 mark in the second, Rhode Island shot just 1-of-17 from the floor and didn't record a field goal till the 2:16 mark in the second quarter. During that span, the Dukes forced five turnovers. Duquesne outscored the Rams in the second 10 minutes (13-6) while holding them to just 20.0 percent (3-of-15) from the field. They pushed their lead to seven, three different times as they held a 28-21 advantage at the break.
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SECOND HALF ADJUSTMENTS
The script flipped in the second half, as both squads shot over 52.0 percent in the third quarter. The two teams traded the opening 30 points to begin the half, with Rhode Island going 7-for-9 from the field while Duquesne shot 6-of-10 and 3-of-4 from behind the arc, to hold a 43-36 advantage with 4:26 remaining. The Dukes would extend its lead to double-digits (47-36) off a bucket from senior
Precious Johnson and a pair of free-throws from
Lauren Wasylson before the Rams mounted an 8-2 spurt, trimming the deficit, 49-44. Junior
Naelle Bernard would bury a left-wing triple as time expired to give the Dukes a 52-44 advantage, heading to the final 10 minutes.
QUOTABLE
"I think in the second half, when we play next to our bench, that gives us a lot of momentum,"
Amaya Hamilton said. "Play at home helps as well but Coach V did a really good job preparing us on what they were going to do in certain situations. I think we just played fearless and that really showed from behind the arc and getting into the paint."
A LATE RUN …
Duquesne would open the fourth quarter on a 12-6 stint, where they were 5-of-5 from the field and collected a pair of triples that gave them their largest lead of the afternoon, 64-50. Out of a Rams timeout, Rhode Island didn't shy away as they put together an 11-0 run which trimmed the Dukes lead (64-61) with just 47 second remaining. Dee Dee Davis led the charge with nine points, all coming from behind the arc. A Johnson layup with 37 seconds left would push the lead back to five before the Dukes would go 4-of-6 from the line over the final 30 seconds to secure the win.
QUOTABLE
"I'm incredibly proud of the effort we had today on both sides of the basketball," head coach
Dan Burt said. "I think it was our most complete game of the season in terms of executing our game plan both offensively and defensively against a team that is very well coached and that has outstanding talent and size. We had contributions up and down the box score with everyone that played. I thought
Naelle Bernard's defense and timey threes were big,
Megan McConnell was one rebound and assist away from a triple double, and
Precious Johnson was an absolute warrior inside. Right now, we're playing really well."
4 FOR 10+ ALEX
A quartet of Dukes finished in double-figures against the Rams, led by
Amaya Hamilton. She finished with 16 points while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and went 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
Megan McConnell and
Precious Johnson each posted 13 points while McConnell fell shy of a triple double, with nine rebounds and nine assists while collecting three steals and a block. Johnson recorded five rebounds (three offensive) and a pair of blocks in 34 minutes off the bench. Junior
Tess Myers was the final Duke in double-digits, posting 10 points, with a pair of triples and collecting two boards, one steal, and one block. The four combined for 52 of Duquesne's 70 points while shooting 19-of-41 (46.3 percent) from the floor.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Junior
Naelle Bernard registered nine points of three triples while sophomore
Jerni Kiaku recorded seven points, three caroms, and two steals off the bench. Both teams mounted 32 points in the paint while turning it over 14 times each. Rhode Island used its height and won the rebounds battle, 45-33 while also holding a 17-8 edge in offensive rebounds.
UP NEXT
Duquesne hits the road when it travels to Amherst, Massachusetts, to battle UMass on Wednesday, Feb. 7 for an A-10 matchup, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
