GAME 13
Saint Louis (7-7, 1-0 A-10) vs. Duquesne (7-5, 0-1 A-10)
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025 | 1:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)

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NOTHING BUT NYLON
- The Duquesne women's basketball team returns to Atlantic 10 action when it welcomes Saint Louis on Wednesday, Dec. 31, inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, with the opening tip scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

- Behind a season-high from freshman Alexis Bordas, the Dukes rolled to an 84-69 victory over crosstown rival Pitt in the annual City Game on Sunday afternoon (Dec 21).

- Duquesne knocked down three of its first five shots to jump out to a 9-4 lead, all from beyond the arc, before Pitt answered with an 11-2 run to take a 15-11 advantage into the first media timeout. Coming out of the break, the Dukes responded with eight unanswered points, five from Bordas and a triple from sophomore Fatou Sane, to reclaim the lead before Mikayla Johnson's layup tied the game at 19 with 1:48 remaining in the opening quarter.

- From there, Duquesne seized control. Over the next seven-and-a-half minutes, the Dukes erupted for a decisive 21-4 run to break the game open. A floater from junior Reina Green ignited the surge, followed by back-to-back layups from sophomores Mackenzie Blackford and Harriet Ford, giving Duquesne a 25-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.

- The momentum carried into the second as freshman Raevin Washington opened the frame with a layup and Bordas buried consecutive triples to push the advantage to 33-19. Amiya Jenkins briefly stopped the run with a layup, but Duquesne answered with baskets from Ford and a deep three from Blackford.

- After Johnson connected on a pair of free throws for Pitt, sophomore Faith Walker closed the half's scoring with a layup, extending the Dukes' lead to 40-23 with 4:15 remaining. Duquesne continued to control both ends of the floor and took a commanding 49-29 lead into the locker room.

- Bordas finished with a career-high 38 points on 11-of-22 (50.0 percent) shooting from the floor and 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from three-point range. Bordas was perfect from the free-throw line, hitting all 6 attempts, while also contributing five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.

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The Series vs. Saint Louis – Come Wednesday afternoon, it'll be the 24^th meeting between the Dukes and Billikens as Duquesne holds a 16-7 record in the all-time series. The Dukes have won five of the last six meetings between the two squads, including an 84-72 victory last season inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. It was a dominant first half for Duquesne, fueled by sharp shooting and strong offensive runs. The Dukes shot an impressive 58.8 percent (17-of-29) from the field and 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from three-point range. They started strong, jumping out to a 6-2 lead on consecutive triples from Gabby Hutcherson and Mackenzie Blackford. Though Saint Louis briefly took the lead with five straight points, Duquesne responded with an 11-0 run, spearheaded by Jerni Kiaku's eight consecutive points and a three-pointer from Megan McConnell, to establish a 17-7 advantage. The Billikens fought back with an 8-5 stretch to close the first quarter, but Duquesne still held a 22-15 lead. The Dukes continued their hot shooting in the second quarter, hitting 60.0 percent (9-of-15) from the field. After trading baskets early, Duquesne put together another strong run, outscoring Saint Louis 11-5 to extend their lead to 39-26 with 4:23 left in the half. McConnell kickstarted the surge with a layup, followed by a three from Blackford. Another triple from McConnell and Hutcherson's third of the half helped push the margin further. Blackford's pair of free throws just before halftime gave Duquesne its largest lead yet, heading into the break with a commanding 50-31 advantage.

Scouting The Billikens – Saint Louis enters Wednesday with a 7-7 overall record and a 1-0 mark in Atlantic 10 play. The Billikens have won five of their last six games, most recently rolling to a dominant 132–53 victory over St. Louis Pharmacy on Sunday night (12/28). Five players scored in double figures in the win, including four with 20 or more points, led by Alyssa Koerkenmeier's 25-point performance. Saint Louis features four players averaging at least 11.0 points per game, paced by Alexia Nelson at 14.9 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per contest. Zya Nugent ranks second on the team, averaging just under 14 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds per game, while Jahda Denis and Zhykera Brown also average double figures. Defensively, the Billikens are anchored by one of the nation's premier shot blockers in Koerkenmeier, who leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks 19th nationally with 27 total blocks. Her 2.1 blocks per game rank second in the conference and 24th in NCAA Division I. Saint Louis is also among the league's top rebounding teams, ranking third with over 40 rebounds per game and sixth in offensive rebounds at 12.4 per contest.

Pitt Remains - Duquesne continues to pride itself on defense, and Sunday's contest was no different. During the Dukes' decisive 21-4 run in the first half, they gave Pitt (7–7) fits, holding the Panthers to just 1-of-8 from the field while forcing five turnovers in seven minutes. Duquesne extended its dominance in the second quarter, limiting Pitt to 21.4 percent shooting (3-of-14) overall and just 1-of-5 from three-point range. Coming into Sunday, Pitt featured one of the ACC's top three-point shooters in Carla Viegas, who had made 29 triples this season. The Dukes effectively contained her, holding Viegas to eight points on 1-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Even in a productive third quarter for Pitt, when the Panthers scored 19 points, 10 coming from the foul line (10-of-12), Duquesne still held them to 4-of-15 shooting (26.7 percent) and 1-of-3 from deep. Overall, Duquesne limited Pitt to its fifth-lowest shooting percentage of the season at 36.2 percent (21-of-58), forced 16 turnovers, and scored 21 points off those miscues, highlighting their suffocating defensive performance.

Rookie Sensation - For the third time this season, freshman guard Alexis Bordas of the Duquesne women's basketball team has been named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, announced by the league office on Monday. Bordas delivered a season-best performance to help Duquesne snap a three-game skid with an 84-69 victory over Pitt in the annual City Game. The freshman poured in a season-high 38 points, shooting 11-of-22 (50.0 percent) from the floor and 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from three-point range. She was perfect at the free-throw line, going 6-of-6, while adding five rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Bordas took control in the second half, scoring 22 of her 38 points on 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) shooting, including an impressive 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from beyond the arc. Her performance peaked in the third quarter, when she erupted for 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting and a flawless 4-of-4 from long range. The 38-point outing ties for the sixth-most in program history and matches the highest total in the Dan Burt era. Her 10 made three-pointers rank second all-time at Duquesne, while her 18 attempts are the most in program history under Burt.

Balanced Attack – Duquesne continues to showcase balanced scoring, as multiple Dukes reached double figures once again. For the seventh time this season, Duquesne featured a trio of double-digit scorers in its matchup against Pitt (Dec. 21). Alongside Bordas was sophomore guard Mackenzie Blackford, who scored 14 points on four made three-pointers while adding three rebounds and two assists. Blackford is averaging over 10 points per game this season and ranks second on the team with 26 made triples. Junior guard Reina Green rounded out the trio with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, and a block, going 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. The three combined for 63 of Duquesne's 84 points and accounted for 15 of the Dukes' 17 made three-pointers. When three players score in double figures, Duquesne owns a 4-3 (.572) record this season.

All Systems Green – Junior guard Reina Green has emerged as a key contributor for the Dukes in recent weeks. Over the past four games, Green is averaging 9.5 points, just under four rebounds, and 1.8 assists per contest while shooting an impressive 48.1 percent (13-of-27) from the field. She has recorded three double-figure scoring performances during the stretch and has shot better than 50.0 percent in three of the four games. In Duquesne's Atlantic 10 opener at Davidson (Dec. 3), Green scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting while adding five rebounds. She followed with another 10-point outing on 4-of-8 shooting at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 9) before posting 11 points, six rebounds, and three assists against Pitt. For the season, the Florida native is averaging over six points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Her 16 total steals rank fourth on the team, while she is shooting a solid 40.7 percent from the field.

Arc Angels - The Dukes enter Wednesday's contest having made at least one three-pointer in 439 consecutive games, a streak spanning 14 years. The last time Duquesne failed to connect from beyond the arc was on December 21, 2011, when the Dukes went 0-for-19 from long range against Florida in the championship game of the Gator Holiday Classic. Just last season, the NCAA Division I women's record for consecutive games with a made three-pointer was broken. Iowa State had previously held the mark with an astounding 945-game streak dating back to February 19, 1995, when the Cyclones competed in the Big Eight Conference. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga now owns the longest active streak in Division I women's basketball, with 817 straight games featuring a made three-pointer.

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