Kingston, R.I. – The Duquesne women's basketball team had its four-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday night, dropping a 59-57 contest at Rhode Island inside the Ryan Center during league action. The Dukes slipped to 15-7 overall, with a 6-5 mark in conference play.
FOURTH QUARTER HEROICS
Entering the fourth quarter tied at 44, senior
Megan McConnell put Duquesne ahead 49-47 with a pair of free throws and a layup at the 7:58 mark. Rhode Island responded with a three-pointer from Sophie Phillips and a layup from Hawa Komara, reclaiming a 52-49 lead. Junior
Jerni Kiaku answered with a basket, and McConnell added three more points to push the Dukes back in front, 54-52. The Rams quickly tied the game and later built a 58-54 advantage with 1:29 remaining. Freshman
Nadia Moore drilled a clutch three-pointer to cut the deficit to one (58-57), but both teams then endured three consecutive empty possessions. Harsimran Kaur made one of two free throws with 15 seconds left. After a Duquesne timeout, the Dukes unfortunately turned the ball over on their final possession, and following an official review, the game ended with no time remaining.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't do enough within the time frame of the game to win," head coach
Dan Burt said. "We were stagnant offensively early, and we did not make timely decisions. We had missed assignments by almost the entire roster and we missed shots that we typically make while also missing free throws. So, forget the timing error at the end of the game, we didn't do enough to win on the road."
POINT OF EMPHASIS
It was a back-and-forth affair in the opening five minutes as the Rams jumped out to a 9-5 advantage before junior
Andjela Matic trim the deficit with a long ball. The two teams would go on a three-minute scoring drought before freshman
Nadia Moore gave the Dukes an 11-9 lead, with 2:48 remaining in the opening stanza. Rhode Island would knot the score at 14-all before Matic connected on her second triple of the quarter as Duquesne held a 17-16 advantage after one. As a team, the Dukes shot an impressive 5-of-8 (.625) from behind the arc in the quarter. In the second stanza, Rhode Island took a 23-21 lead before sophomore
Reina Green buried a foul-line jumper to knot the score at 23 with 5:17 left in the half. Later in the quarter, senior
Megan McConnell connected on a triple to give the Dukes a brief 27-26 advantage, but the Rams closed the half on a 7-2 run, heading into the break with a 32-28 lead.
MEG BEING MEG
Senior guard
Megan McConnell led the Dukes with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting (.500) from the floor. She finished with seven rebounds, five steals, and two assists in Wednesday's contest. McConnell was particularly dominant in the second half, scoring 15 of her 22 points while shooting 6-of-12 (.500) from the field. In the fourth quarter, she powered Duquesne's offense, scoring seven of the team's first nine points and converting all three of her field-goal attempts. The Pittsburgh native notched her eighth 20-point performance of the season and recorded her 10th game with five or more steals. McConnell has now registered five steals in three consecutive games for Duquesne.
NOTES
Junior
Jerni Kiaku finished in double figures, ending with 11 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Nadia Moore chipped in nine points, with three three-pointers and two rebounds. … Sophia Vital was the lone Ram in double figures ending with 20 points, four three pointers, and five assists. … Duquesne held a 24-22 edge in points in the paint … The Rams captured a 39-35 rebounding advantage … The Dukes turned it over 13 times and totaled just seven steals
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Sunday, Feb. 9, when it welcomes conference leading Richmond at 2:00 p.m. The contest will be streamed on CBS Sports Network and be the Dukes third nationally televised game this season.
