Pittsburgh, Pa. – In front of a record-setting crowd of 3,100 fans, the Duquesne women's basketball team closed out its home schedule in dominant fashion, rolling to a 74-48 victory over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday morning during Education Day at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The win lifted the Dukes to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in Atlantic 10 play.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
Duquesne came out firing from behind the arc, draining three triples to jump out to an early 9-3 lead. St. Bonaventure (6-22 | 2-15 A-10) responded with a 10-2 run, seizing a 13-11 advantage with four minutes remaining in the opening quarter. However, the Dukes closed the period on a 7-0 surge, reclaiming control at 18-13. Junior Andjela Matic ignited the run with a three-pointer, followed by a driving layup from senior Megan McConnell and a strong finish from junior Jerni Kiaku. The second quarter opened with back-and-forth action before Duquesne found its rhythm again, unleashing an 11-2 run to extend its lead to 35-20. Kiaku sparked the stretch with consecutive layups, and after a pair of free throws from the Bonnies, senior Kiandra Browne and McConnell added back-to-back buckets. Matic capped the surge with another deep three. St. Bonaventure managed to score five of the final nine points of the half, but Duquesne remained in control, taking a 39-25 lead into the break.

QUOATABLE
"What a day today was," head coach Dan Burt said. "I want to start by thanking Leah Adams, who does the marketing for women's basketball, and Megan Jahrling, who is also a part of this. They simply have outdone themselves today. Simply incredible, electric atmosphere, more than 3000 screaming kids here today that were really dialed in with great music and great activities during halftime and time outs. The reason why I want to recognize them more than anything is because when I started here 18 years ago, there might have been 200 people in the stands at this time of the year. We've come so far as a university and as an athletic department, as a women's basketball program, and I can't thank the people, from President Gormley to Dave Harper to Megan and Leah and our staff for what happened out there today. Very Simply, we did what we were supposed to do and play to our level of where we wanted to be. And what I mean by that is, is we won all four quarters, we shot the ball well from the perimeter and from the field. We won the rebounding battle, had more than 30 deflections, and we didn't let the crowd or anything distract us, we're in a good place right now."

EFFICIENT FROM THE FIELD
Duquesne delivered its second-best shooting performance of the season on Wednesday, finishing at an impressive 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field. The Dukes shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) in the first half before maintaining efficiency in the second, hitting 50.0 percent (14-of-28) of their attempts. From beyond the arc, Duquesne connected on 12-of-28 three-pointers, marking the 16th time this season they recorded double-digit triples. Their most efficient stretch from deep came in the third quarter, where they hit 4-of-6 attempts. After the teams traded the first 12 points of the second half, Duquesne broke away with an 11-6 run, fueled by three triples. Graduate student Gabby Hutcherson sparked the surge with a three-pointer, followed by a layup from Megan McConnell. After a Zoe Shaw pull-up jumper, McConnell knocked down back-to-back threes to cap the run. The Dukes added another long-range shot before closing the quarter with a commanding 59-40 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOK
Senior guard Megan McConnell entered Wednesday's contest on the verge of history, needing just three points to move into fourth place on Duquesne's all-time scoring list and two steals to claim the third-highest single-season takeaway total in program history. She wasted no time making her mark, drilling a right-wing three-pointer on her first shot of the game to surpass Candace Futrell (2001–04) with 1,668 career points. McConnell reached another milestone in the third quarter, recording a steal at the 4:56 mark to surpass Korie Hlede's 1995 total of 110 takeaways, securing third place for the most steals in a single season. She led the Dukes with her second consecutive 20-point performance, finishing with 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. The Pittsburgh native shot an efficient 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the field, including five three-pointers. With her latest performance, McConnell has now amassed 1,691 career points and 112 steals this season.

INSIDE THE STAT SHEET
Gabby Hutcherson delivered a strong performance, finishing with 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while Jerni Kiaku added 10 points and four boards. Senior Kiandra Browne contributed nine points, three rebounds, and two assists. Duquesne dominated inside, scoring 32 points in the paint and outpacing St. Bonaventure 14-3 in fast-break points. The Dukes also controlled the boards, holding a 38-24 rebounding advantage while limiting the Bonnies to just 32.7 percent shooting (17-of-52) from the field.

UP NEXT
Duquesne wraps up the regular season on Saturday, March 1, with a road matchup against George Mason. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m.