GAME 33
Duquesne (20-12) vs Monmouth (22-9)
Monday, March. 25, 2024 | 6:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse
Stream: ESPN+ with Alex Panormios (PxP) and Josh Taylor (Color)
 
GAME DAY LINKS
Video (ESPN+)
Live Stats
Tickets
DUQ Game Notes
Monmouth Game Notes

OPENING TIP
- After receiving an at-large selection to the 2024 Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT), the Duquesne University women's basketball team earned a first-round bye and will not play Monmouth in a Second-Round matchup on Monday, March 25, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

- The Dukes are coming off the Atlantic 10 Championships back on March 9, where they fell to conference champs Richmond 80-66 at Henrico, Virginia, inside the Henrico Sports & Events Center. Three Dukes finished in double figures, led by Ayanna Townsend.

- She finished 6-of-8 shooting from the floor while collecting seven rebounds, one block, and one steal. Townsend netted nine of her 13 points in the second half, where she was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field.

- Amaya Hamilton registered 12 points while totaling five rebounds and three assists. Hamilton recorded 10 of her 12 in the second half alone. Tess Myers was the final Dukes in double digits, tallying 10 points with a pair of triples while collecting four rebounds and a block.

- Megan McConnell posted eight points, four assists, and three steals while Jerni Kiaku netted six points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals off the bench. Richmond featured five players in double figures, led by the Defensive Player of the Year, Addie Budnik. She finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 6-of-9 from long range.

- As a team, Duquesne held a slight edge in points in the paint (42-40) while Richmond scored 22 points off 15 Duke turnovers. Duquesne held an 8-13 advantage in bench points while the Spiders held a 10-4 lead in fastbreak points.

- It was an up-and-down pace in the opening five minutes as the two squads traded the first 16 points of the contest. Duquesne had four different players register a bucket as both teams combined just 7-of-21 during the span.

- Richmond would respond by ending the quarter on an 8-4 stint and lead 16-12 after the opening stanza. In the second quarter, both teams continued to trade baskets as they swapped the first 14 points.

- After a pair of free-throws from the Spiders pushed their lead to eight, the Dukes netted six consecutive points to trim the deficit to two (27-25). Senior Precious Johnson started the run with a layup before sophomore Jerni Kiaku recorded back-to-back layups to trim the gap. Richmond wouldn't shy away, putting together an 8-0 stint over a two-minute span before taking a 37-27 lead into the break.

The Series vs. Monmouth – Come Monday night, it'll be the first ever meeting between the Dukes and Hawks. Duquesne currently holds an all-time record of 12-11 against Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) teams.

Scouting the Hawks – A member of the CAA, Monmouth comes into Monday night with a 22-9 overall mark. The Hawks are coming off a 68-58 victory over at Buffalo in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday night. Three players finished in double-figures, paced by Taisha Exanor. She finished with 16 points while Belle Kranbuhl ended with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Jania Hall was the final Hawk in double digits, chipping in 15 points after going 9-for-9 from the foul line.

A pair of Hawks are averaging double figures, led by Kaci Donovan and Ariana Vanderhoop. Donovan is averaging 11.8 points per game while collecting 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. She's registered 17 games in double figures while playing in 29 contests. Vanderhoop is totaling 10.4 points a contest while tallying 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and is shooting .447 percent from the field. She's posted 17 games in double digits for the Hawks while appearing in 27 games. As a team, Monmouth is one of the top three-point defensive teams in the CAA, ranking second at .260 percent from long range. The Hawks also ended as the top team in blocked shots, averaging 5.84 per contest while totaling 181.

Richmond Remains - It was a stagnant start to the second half for both teams as they combined 3-of-8 shooting the floor, with four combined turnovers in the opening three minutes. Later in the quarter, junior Megan McConnell would cut the deficit to single digits (43-34) with a triple before Richmond (28/5) strung together a 7-2 spurt to push its lead up to 14. Duquesne would make a late run to end the quarter, scoring five of the final eight points to trail 53-41 heading to the final 10 minutes. After a layup by senior Amaya Hamilton began the fourth quarter, the Spiders scored eight straight points to grab its largest lead of the afternoon, 61-43 with 6:43 remaining. The Dukes would look to make its run but Richmond continued to answer late down the stretch.

Trio of Accolades - Junior guard Megan McConnell earned a trio of Atlantic 10 postseason awards announced by the league office on March 5. McConnell, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., was tabbed to the All-Conference First Team while earning a spot on the All-Defensive Team and All-Academic Team, as voted on by the league's coaches. It's the second straight season where McConnell was selected to an All-Conference and All-Academic Team. The junior guard has been nothing but stout for the Dukes this season, leading them in almost every statistical category while surpassing the 1,000 point milestone earlier this season. She's averaging 13.1 points a game while shooting .463 percent from the floor and a career-high .414 from long range. McConnell currently ranks 27th in the country in assist to turnover ratio (2.35) while totaling 150 assists this year, good for third in the A-10. The Pittsburgh native is dishing out 4.7 helpers a game which is good for third in the conference. She has recorded 17 games this season with five plus assists while playing 38.4 minutes a game, which ranks second in NCAA Division I.

Six Pack – The Dukes feature an achievement that only four other schools in the country have conquered and that's having five 1,000-point scorers on the same team. Fortunately for Duquesne, they add another member to the list to give them six on the year. Senior Amaya Hamilton and junior Tess Myers were the first to surpass the milestone as both achieved the honor in a 66-59 victory at Davidson. Just two games later, senior Ayanna Townsend joined the club during a 73-57 win over Loyola Chicago. The following week, juniors Megan McConnell and Naelle Bernard captured the achievement when the Dukes took down UMass, 79-62. Senior Precious Johnson was the final Duke to surpass the milestone as she captured her 1,000-career point in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, where Duquesne dominated UMass, 81-57.

In The WNIT – Duquesne will be competing in the WNIT for the 10th time in program history and for the fifth time under head coach Dan Burt. The Dukes are 8-9 all-time in the event, including a pair of 'Sweet 16' runs in 2011 and 2015. Duquesne returns back to the tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, where it won a pair of contests over Miami Ohio (69-56) and Georgetown (69-66) before falling to St. John's (65-52) in the third round. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019-20, the tournament was cancelled as the Dukes were projected to make the WNIT.