Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne women's basketball team returned to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse for its home opener Sunday afternoon, cruising to a 97-60 victory over Clarion in non-conference action. With the win, the Dukes improved to 1-1 (.500) on the season while extending their home-opening winning streak to seven consecutive seasons. Duquesne also improved to 38-16 (.704) all-time in home openers.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Clarion opened the contest with a three-point play before the Dukes responded with a 16-2 run to take a 16-5 advantage. Senior
Carla Viegas paced five different scorers with seven points during the stretch as Duquesne shot an impressive 7-of-9 from the field. Amaya Evans converted a layup to briefly halt the momentum before Alyssa Terza knocked down a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 18-10 with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter. Over the next 7:44, Duquesne erupted for a 30-8 run to build its largest lead of the contest at 48-18. The Dukes connected on 11-of-20 attempts from the field during the stretch, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Freshman
Amaya Robinson led the charge with 11 points, while junior
De'Naya Rippey and redshirt junior
Gabby Grantham-Medley each added five points. Robinson was particularly effective, shooting 4-of-5 from the field while knocking down three triples. The Golden Eagles responded with a 13-7 run to close out the first half, but Duquesne maintained a commanding 55-31 advantage heading into the break.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
Duquesne continued its impressive shooting performance in the second half, finishing 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) from the floor and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from beyond the arc. The Dukes featured four players in double figures, led by senior
Carla Viegas, who tied her career high with 27 points on 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) shooting from the field, including 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from three-point range. The performance marked Viegas' second consecutive 20-point outing and the first time in her career she has scored at least 20 points in back-to-back games.
De'Naya Rippey and
Amaya Robinson each finished with 12 points. Rippey was perfect from the field, connecting on all five of her attempts while adding five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Robinson knocked down three triples, while redshirt sophomore
Nadia Moore rounded out the quartet with 11 points on 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) shooting. Moore scored nine of her 11 points in the second half while collecting four rebounds and dishing out two assists. The quartet combined for 62 of Duquesne's 97 points while connecting on 10 three-pointers.
QUOTABLE
"It feels good to be back in this seat while winning basketball games and feeling really good about what the future holds," head coach
Dan Burt said. "Today, we played an opponent that we did what we were supposed to do against them. We're very thankful that Clarion came down to play us and they played hard, and we certainly played to a standard that we're fairly happy with today. 17 turnovers are unacceptable. We got a little selfish late in the second quarter with about three minutes to go. But overall, for everyone to get a chance to score, everyone getting a chance to play some meaningful minutes, and to not really have many lulls, very happy with the team overall. We were 50, 40, 80, 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line, and 80% from the free throw line. That's a really nice sign and I didn't think we necessarily shot it well because we got mostly every shot that we want wanted. There's a lot that we have to work on but overall happy with how we performed."
THE NUMBERS GAME
All 12 players who entered the contest for the Dukes against the Golden Eagles registered at least one basket.
Gabby Grantham-Medley finished with seven points and four rebounds, while
Dalma Grets,
Raevin Washington and
Dunja Zecevic each chipped in six points. Washington also collected eight rebounds and recorded a block. Junior
Maja Rohkohl paced Duquesne on the glass with 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, while dishing out three assists. The performance marked the sixth double-digit rebounding game of her career. Freshman
Ayala Oren handed out a team-high five assists while adding six rebounds. The Dukes were equally stifling on the defensive end, limiting Clarion to just 27.5 percent (19-of-69) shooting from the field and 26.8 percent (11-of-41) from beyond the arc.
NOTES
Duquesne dominated the glass, outrebounding Clarion, 55-33, including a 17-11 advantage on the offensive boards … The Dukes scored 21 points off 17 Golden Eagle turnovers … Duquesne held a 36-14 advantage in points in the paint and a 42-25 edge in bench scoring … The Dukes dished out 22 assists on 37 made field goals … Duquesne extended its largest lead of the contest to 37 points (94-57) in the fourth quarter … The Dukes have won seven consecutive home openers and 21 of their last 24
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 11, when it welcomes Marist for a non-conference matchup beginning at 6:00 p.m.
