GAME 24
Duquesne (14-9, 9-3 A-10) vs La Salle (7-15, 4-7 A-10)
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
Stream: ESPN+ with Alex Panormios (pxp) & Rachel Zimmerman (color)
 
GAME DAY LINKS
Video (ESPN+)
Live Stats
DUQ Game Notes
La Salle Game Notes

OPENING TIP
- The Duquesne University women's basketball team returns to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse when it hosts La Salle in league action on Saturday, Feb. 10, for its annual Pink Out Game.

- The Dukes are coming off a 79-62 rout at Massachusetts last Wednesday, where it saw two more players surpass the 1,000-point milestone. Juniors Megan McConnell and Naelle Bernard join an elite list of Dukes who have conquered the honor.

- Duquesne got a nice lift from its bench, netting 37 points during the win. Gabby Grantham-Medley chipped in 11 points and three rebounds while Lauren Wasylson netted nine points on three triples.

-  Tess Myers, Jerni Kiaku, and Precious Johnson all registered six points each while all collecting a pair of rebounds. The Dukes registered 24 points in the paint while tallying 14 fast break points, 10 of them coming in the second stanza. Duquesne recorded 21 assists on 28 field goals made while outrebounding UMass 36-28.

- Massachusetts jumped out to an early 10-4 lead in the opening three minutes before Duquesne put together a 12-0 stint to grab its first lead of the night, 16-10. Bernard sparked the run with a driving layup before consecutive triples from freshman Gabby Grantham-Medley and Bernard continued the stint. McConnell would register a bucket before Bernard capped the spurt with another layup.

- The Minutewomen responded by scoring eight straight points to regain the lead, 18-16 with 1:22 remaining in the opening stanza. McConnell would connect on a long ball to knot the score at 21-all after one.

- In the second quarter, the Dukes continued its run, netting a 9-1 spurt to hold a 30-22 advantage. McConnell netted another triple, followed by four consecutive points from senior Ayanna Townsend.

- Senior Precious Johnson capped the stint with a layup, forcing a UMass timeout. Later in the quarter, Duquesne ended the half by scoring the final seven points, four coming from Grantham-Medley and three from Bernard as the Dukes led 39-28 at the break.

- At the conclusion of battling the Explorers, Duquesne will hit the road for a two-game road swing, opening up at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, Feb. 14, before traveling to Saint Louis on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The Series vs. La Salle – Come Saturday afternoon, it'll be the 46^th meeting between the Dukes and Explorers. Duquesne holds a slight lead in the all-time series (23-22) but La Salle has won three of the last four meetings, including a 72-56 victory last February. Precious Johnson led Duquesne with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Amaya Hamilton (13) and sophomore guard Tess Myers (10) were also in double digits while Megan McConnell led all players with 10 rebounds. It was a tight game most of the way, with neither team leading by more than nine points until late in the third quarter. In the final quarter, La Salle shot 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from the field to lead it to victory at home. Duquesne's struggles from the free throw line continued, as it shot 17-for-30.

Scouting the Explorers – La Salle comes into Saturday's contest dropping its last two games, most recently against Loyola Chicago, 73-39. Only five of the 12 Explorers that entered the game scored, with Nicole Melious leading that group with 14 points. She collected four rebounds and drilled a pair of threes. Makayla Miller was the second player in double-figures, ending with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor, along with four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks.

The Explorers feature a pair of players averaging over 10.0 points a contest, in Makayla Miller and Nicole Melious. Miller has appeared in all 22 games while averaging 10.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. She's shooting over 43.5 percent from the field and has scored in double-figures in 10 straight contests. Melious is one of two Explorers to start in all 22 contests while averaging 10.2 points and 2.4 rebounds a game. She's shooting 32.4 percent from behind the arc while leading the team with 48 triples this season. Melious has netted double-digits in three of the last four games while knocking down two-plus treys in seven straight contests.

UMass Remains - The Dukes kept their foot on the gas on both ends of the floor, holding the Minutewomen to just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) in the third quarter while shooting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the field. Later in the third frame, Duquesne mounted an 8-0 run, thanks to a pair of triples from Bernard and McConnell, followed by a jumper from Bernard, 49-32. The Dukes continued to give UMass problems, holding them to 1-of-7 from the field over the final five minutes. The Minutewomen scored the first five points of the final frame before redshirt senior Lauren Wasylson connected on a pair of long balls, which gave the Dukes its biggest lead of the contest, 70-51. Duquesne would continue to cruise in the fourth quarter, shooting over 46.0 percent from the field.

1K Threshold - For the second time this season, the Dukes have had two players surpass the 1,000-point plateau in the same game. Juniors Megan McConnell and Naelle Bernard concurred that feature at UMass. With her triple to end the first quarter, McConnell was the first to eclipse the milestone. She finished just shy of another triple-double, with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three treys, nine rebounds, and seven assists while collecting a steal. The Pittsburgh native has registered over 288 points this season and now has 1,010 for her career.
Bernard surpassed the milestone at the 7:11 mark in the third quarter, when she buried a left-wing triple. She paced the team with 15 points, on 6-of-9 shooting, while collecting a season-high six boards and dishing out four assists. The Paris native has recorded over 513 points in her two seasons with the Dukes while posting 489 points at Salt Lake Community College. She now has 1,002 points for her collegiate career. The duo joins teammates Amaya Hamilton, Tess Myers, and Ayanna Townsend as they surpassed the mark earlier this season.

Stellar Defensively – Over the last seven contests, Duquesne has been stifling on the defensive end, leading them to a 6-1 mark in that span. The Dukes have held their opponents to a combined 36.9 percent shooting from the floor while forcing them into just 30.5 percent from behind the arc. Over the seven-game span, the Dukes are forcing their conference foes into an average of 11.6 turnovers per game and collecting 3.6 steals in the process. Megan McConnell leads the way in that category, averaging 1.3 during the stretch while posting 2.0 steals per game this season, ranking fourth in the league. Duquesne continues to protect the paint and rack up rejections, totaling 30 in its seven-game span. Senior Precious Johnson and Amaya Hamilton have averaged 1.3 blocks over the last seven contests while classmate Ayanna Townsend has posted 1.1 rejections. Johnson's 28 total blocks and 1.2 average per game ranks sixth in the conference while Townsend sits ninth with 23 total rejections and 1.0 swats a game.