Moon Township, Pa. – Despite a late rally, the Duquesne women's basketball team suffered its first set back of the 2025-26 campaign, dropping a 64-62 decision at Robert Morris on Tuesday night inside the UPMC Events Center. With the loss, the Dukes fall to 4-1 (.800) on the season.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
Trailing 50-45 entering the fourth quarter, the Dukes opened the final 10 minutes with a 9-2 run to take a 54-52 lead. Sophomore Mackenzie Blackford ignited the push with back-to-back layups, followed by a bucket from redshirt sophomore Gabby Grantham-Medley. Freshman Alexis Bordas then banked in a right-wing triple to put the Dukes in front. Ava Leroux briefly tied the game at 54 before the Colonials reclaimed the lead with 5:54 remaining. After a two-minute scoring lull, sophomore Faith Walker knotted things again at 58-58. Both teams then traded empty trips until Aislin Malcolm converted a three-point play to give the Colonials a 61-58 edge with 34 seconds left. Following a Duquesne timeout, sophomore Harriet Ford drove in for a layup to make it a one-point game with 31 tics remaining. Jada Lee went 1-of-2 from the line with 22 seconds left, leaving the door open, but Grantham-Medley's jumper didn't fall. Malcolm secured the win at the stripe with two final free-throws.

QUOTABLE
"Tonight, was a great example of our inexperience, our youth, and playing against a team that is a very well coached that was outstandingly prepared in Robert Morris, and this is a great learning lesson for us early in the season," head coach Dan Burt said. "It certainly is a bitter loss, because we have very high expectations to win every single game, and frankly, it's the county game, and we didn't play it for a number of years. And I'm really glad that we are playing this game. I think it's important for girls' basketball in the area, and I think it's a good game for the two universities. Unfortunately, tonight we came out a little bit short, but kudos goes to Robert Morris and their outstanding preparation for this game."

BATTLE BACK
It was a hot start for the Colonials as they jumped out to an early 9-3 advantage before Duquesne responded with 10 unanswered points to grab a 13-9 lead. Grantham-Medley sparked the run with a pull up jumper, followed by back-to-back triples from sophomore Mackenzie Blackford and another jumper from Grantham-Medley. After a two-minute scoring drought, Grantham-Medley pushed the Dukes lead to six with a layup before Duquesne took a 17-14 lead at the end of one. In the second quarter, the Dukes stretched its advantage to 22-14 but the Colonials bolstered a 15-4 burst over a three and a half minute span, to regain a 29-24 advantage. Duquesne responded with six of the final nine points of the quarter to trail 32-30 at the break. Sophomore Harriet Ford paced the way with four points during the stint.

THE TRIO
For the fifth straight game, the Dukes featured three or more players in double figures. Mackenzie Blackford paced Duquesne with 16 points on 6-of-13 (.462 percent) shooting from the field. She collected four rebounds and a pair of steals while netting 10 of her 16 in the second half. Harriet Ford finished with her second double-double of the season, totaling 15 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. She finished 6-of-9 (.667 percent) shooting from the field while collecting four assists. Gabby Grantham-Medley rounded out the trio with 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

QUOTABLE
"Sometimes you're not going to be successful pressing a good basketball team," Burt continued. "You're going to give up some shots and I think we only gave up one or two layups, and one of them was in the first quarter. I thought overall, the press was pretty good. The problem was, once we turned them over, we then turned the ball over ourselves. We can't continue to do that, so I had no problems with us defensively. How the press was, some of our coverages in the half court have been a little bit better. We identified them as somewhat being out of control, sometimes on drives going off of one foot in the lane. And I think we only had two charges. I think we could have done better there. But the simple matter is, we got out tough tonight by grown women, and we have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores that have to understand about second efforts and about it's going to be like a fist fight every night going forward. But it's a great learning lesson for us."

NOTES
Alexis Bordas ended with seven points and a team-best four steals … Duquesne held a 38-20 advantage in points in the paint … RMU featured a pair of players in double figures, led by Noa Givon, finishing with a game-high 21 points while going 5-of-9 from behind the arc …. Myriam Traore ended with 13 points and five rebounds … Duquesne held an 11-7 advantage in steals … RMU defeats Duquesne for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign

UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse when it welcomes Kent State on Monday, Nov. 24, with the opening tip schedule for 6:00 p.m.