Pittsburgh, Pa. – A third quarter burst by the Revolutionaries propelled George Washington to a 59-45 victory over the Duquesne women's basketball team Wednesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes slipped to 7-10 (.412) overall during the 2025-26 campaign, including 0-6 in the Atlantic 10.

POINT OF EMPHASIS
George Washington opened the contest with six straight points before sophomore guard Mackenzie Blackford halted the early run with a three-pointer, followed by a layup from sophomore forward Harriet Ford. Gabby Reynolds then extended the Revolutionaries' advantage to three with a pull-up jumper, but Ford answered once again at the rim to pull within one, 8-7, with 3:29 remaining in the opening quarter. Following a three-minute scoring drought, George Washington converted a pair of free throws to take a 10-7 lead at the end of the first period. The Revolutionaries maintained a 14-10 edge midway through the second quarter before redshirt sophomore Gabby Grantham-Medley knocked down a jumper. Both teams endured another four-minute scoring drought until Sara Lewis broke through with a layup, pushing George Washington's lead to 16-10 with 2:08 left in the half. Junior Reina Green later sank a pair at the chalk as the Revolutionaries carried an 18-14 advantage into halftime.

QUOTABLE
"I feel like the kids have played with great effort before tonight, I think in our first two quarters, we weren't very good from an effort standpoint," head coach Dan Burt explained. "We picked it up late to close the game but what's our identity? We're not very smart with the ball. We don't value the basketball. We as coaches don't put them in position to have more effective ways of scoring the basketball, and that's on me. We continue to turn the ball over at a rate where we don't value it. We had 19 tonight, and just poor decisions with the ball, and it's my responsibility to put them in better spots to get good shots. I would like our identity to be what it was at the beginning of the season. We want to press people and we want to be able to be aggressive. But right now, that's not it but we'll continue to search for answers."

SECOND-HALF SURGE
After going 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half, George Washington (10–9, 2–4 A-10) opened the final 20 minutes with a 12–3 run, knocking down four of its first five shots and a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. The Revolutionaries built a 30–17 advantage before Reina Green and Harriet Ford each scored to trim the deficit to eight with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter. George Washington answered with six consecutive points, but Bordas completed a three-point play and Gabby Grantham-Medley added a layup as Duquesne trailed 38–27 at the end of the third. In the fourth quarter, Bordas drilled her second straight three, though the Revolutionaries responded with a decisive 9–2 run over a two-minute stretch to claim their largest lead of the game at 55–37. Duquesne mounted one final push with an 8–2 run to close within 57–45 with 1:37 remaining, but that was as close as the Dukes would come.

Déjà Vu
For the second consecutive game, freshman guard Alexis Bordas surpassed the 20-point mark, finishing with exactly 20 points highlighted by three triples. She went 5-of-8 from the free-throw line while adding four rebounds and two steals on Wednesday. The West Virginia native scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half, shooting 5-of-11 (.455) from the field and 3-of-6 (.500) from beyond the arc. Bordas did most of her damage in the fourth quarter, accounting for 12 of Duquesne's 18 points in the period on 3-of-5 shooting, including two three-pointers. Bordas has now recorded five 20-point performances this season, scored in double figures 15 times, and led the team in scoring on eight occasions.

NOTES
Reina Green finished with nine points while going 6-of-6 from the foul line … Fatou Sane finished with a  team-high five rebounds … George Washington featured two players in double figures, led by Sara Lewis who finished with 17 points on an efficient 7-of-9 (.778) shooting from the field, with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals … Kamari Sims netted 13 points of 5-of-8 (.625) shooting from the floor, with two triples and three rebounds … George Washington held a 24-14 advantage in points in the paint … The Revolutionaries won the rebounding battle 35-27 … Duquesne held an 11-8 edge in steals

UP NEXT
Duquesne continues A-10 play on the road Sunday, Jan. 18, at Rhode Island, with the 1:30 p.m. matchup airing on USA Network.