Pittsburgh, Pa. – Following a 9-1 run from redshirt senior
Lauren Wasylson in regulation, the Duquesne University women's basketball team rallied to a 69-65 overtime victory over Monmouth in the second round of the WNIT at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, the Dukes improve to 21-12 overall this season.
ICE IN HER VEINS
After a pull up jumper from Ariana Vanderhoop gave the Hawks a 59-51 advantage with 1:03 remaining in regulation, Duquesne would respond in a big way. Wasylnson would go on a 9-1 run by herself to knot the score and send the game into overtime. She began the run by burying a triple with 46 seconds remaining to trim the deficit to five. After Monmouth missed a pair of free throws, Wasylson was fouled behind the arc and went to the line with 38 seconds remaining. The redshirt senior connected on all three from the chalk as the Hawks went 1-of-2 on the following possession. After a timeout from Duquesne advanced the ball, Wasylson was fouled again behind the three-point line. She buried all three from the charity stripe and knotted the score at 60-60 with 29 ticks remaining. The Dukes would get one final defensive stop to send the contest into overtime.
UNDEFEATED IN OT
In overtime, the Dukes would jump out to a 64-62 advantage, thanks to layups from junior
Megan McConnell and sophomore
Jerni Kiaku. McConnell would extend the Duquesne lead to three after going 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 3:20 remaining. Monmouth would respond with three consecutive points, capped with a jumper from Jania Hall to tie the score at 65-all, with 42 ticks left. Out of a Dukes timeout, senior
Amaya Hamilton would collect her own missed layup with a putback to give Duquesne a two-point advantage with 21 ticks remaining. The Hawks were called for an illegal screen on the following possession as Wasylson sealed the deal with a pair of free throws in the end, 69-65.
QUOTABLE
"The Madness of March," head coach
Dan Burt said. "Our kids really gave great effort in the 16 days we had off but we knew we were going to have this rust. It was just how quickly can we get through it and was hoping it would take a quarter, maybe three minutes, it just took a little longer. We defended really well but anytime we got a two-point lead, they answered that and it's because they are a very well coached team," Burt continued. "I'm incredibly proud and happy for
Lauren Wasylson. First, for coach
Vanessa Abel to draw up those calls, Lauren getting fouled on both of those, and knocking down key free throws, those are big, big, big plays."
BACK AND FORTH
In a game that featured 12 lead changes and 11 ties, it was a slow start for both teams. Duquesne jumped out to a 5-2 lead before Monmouth responded with a 9-2 stint to take an 11-7 advantage, with 2:12 remaining in the opening stanza. A McConnell layup would cut the lead to two before the Hawks held a 14-10 lead after one. The Dukes opened the second quarter with three straight field goals, coming from junior
Naelle Bernard, senior
Precious Johnson, and Hamilton, to take a 16-14 advantage. Over the next four minutes, the Hawks mounted an 11-2 run to take its biggest lead of the half, 25-18 with 2:38 remaining. Duquesne didn't shy away, netting six straight points to trail 25-24 at the break. A layup from Johnson sparked the run, followed by buckets from Kiaku and junior
Kiandra Browne.
THE QUARTET
Four Dukes finished in double figures, led by
Megan McConnell. She posted her ninth double-double of the year, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. McConnell scored 10 of her 16 in the second half while dishing out three assists and collecting a steal.
Precious Johnson recorded 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, with a pair of triples. She tallied seven rebounds and two blocks, which now moves her tied for fourth all-time in program history with Wumi Agunbiade, with 158 career blocks.
Jerni Kiaku finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting while totaling five rebounds, two steals, and one block.
Lauren Wasylson was the final Duke to reach double digits, registering 11 points, all in the fourth quarter and overtime. She finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe, six of them coming during her 9-1 stint in the final minute.
QUOTABLE
"Coming down to the end of the game, obviously being down eight doesn't help and I just thought my career was on the line," Wasylson explained. "Nobody wants this to end, we have such a great team and we all love each other so much, we just want to keep this success going as long as we can. We practice free throws every day and coach Bell tells us to put ourselves in a scenario that might happen in a game-like situation and that's exactly what happened today. So, I'm excited I made them."
UP NEXT
Duquesne moves on to the Super 16, where it travels to Purdue on Thursday, March 28, to battle the Boilermakers at 7:00 p.m.
