Duquesne WBB Looks To Stay Unbeaten In A-10 Play With Televised Contest

The Duquesne Women’s Basketball Team prepares for its first game in eight days, its second consecutive layoff of such length as it hosts George Mason Sunday in a game televised on CBS Sports Network.

George Mason is a much-improved team having won its 10th game of the season seven games earlier than a campaign ago. Most recently it fought preseason favorite Rhode Island until the very last play in a back-and-forth contest, falling just short.

Duquesne basketball on Pittsburgh Sports Now is sponsored by The Summit Academy: setting young men on the path to a better future.

Below are a series of comments from head coach Dan Burt and senior center Ayanna Townsend, as PSN’s Zachary Weiss spoke to both following Wednesday evening’s practice.

Dan Burt

Takeaways from the Dayton win: “We put a 2-3 zone in, that’s something we had only really played about 3% of the defensive possessions of the year and we executed it pretty well until late in the fourth quarter. We got positive contributions from everyone, and everyone played. I feel good about what Gabby gave us and imposed her will on the game and showed as a freshman that she’s deserving of quality minutes. We played a good basketball game against a team that is athletic and has good size.”

On how he viewed the win coming without Tess Myers and Kiandra Browne who got injured early on in the Dayton contest: “It’s a positive but it’s a little bit of a negative because I found a game of consistency and good play, but I still don’t have those combinations yet of what is going to work when we play a George Mason team that plays eight where any of them could start. For us, we have 10 or 11 and I don’t know who will start on Sunday. We’ll have Tess back and we’re excited about that. Kiandra will be back but that makes practices more important for me and them for who’s going to fill those two spots.”

More thoughts on Dayton: “It went right from the beginning and I think that starts with Yanni Townsend. She still missed her first few shots, but it didn’t matter because her aggressiveness on both ends of the floor was so simply outstanding. You felt really good about it from the opening tip and our women were ready to play. We have to have those same kind of starts in each game. The only thing is us winning today and our only focus being on Sunday and that has to be our identity, that we’re going to win each day and prepare one game at a time. Our entire roster has to have their feet where they are. We’ve got to be focused where we are right now, which is getting in the gym and getting better today so that we’re ready for Sunday.”

On how he views the first of two bye weeks: “We have two bye weeks now and at first when our schedule was released, I wasn’t real happy about it, being so early, but it’s really benefitted us. We’re able to practice more and identify some challenges and work on those. It’s allowed us to come back and not rush. Our kids are in a real good place mentally and physically after the win at Dayton. This gives us more time to prepare and get in better shape for George Mason. We end our season with a bye week before Richmond and Saint Joe’s. To have those bye weeks I’d take that every year, I kind of like it.”

Ayanna Townsend

On what was a point of emphasis heading into the Dayton contest: “We had a big mindset change going into conference play. We had a hard week of practice leading in just for starting to play these games. It felt good to the point where we kind are going to aspire for that feeling the rest of the season.”

Reviewing the non-conference slate: “During the non-conference schedule, I honestly don’t know but maybe we were shaken up. Once we reset mentally that was what we needed. We had the perfect timing for the long time between games. It was just the mental and physical reset that we needed. Sometimes when you get beat by an opponent, you have to say that we learned this about ourselves. If we don’t lose that game then maybe it costs us something down the line. Looking at it as positively as you can, taking little bits of what can we learn from this and how do we adapt so this doesn’t happen again?”

How the bye week was seen at this stage of the season: “At the beginning of the season you just want to play because you’ve been here since the summer and preseason just playing each other and we scrimmaged with our practice players and a couple of teams. It’s refreshing to play other people, but I think everyone needs a break sometimes. Our break was beneficial for us especially we get real days off versus having a day off during the semester and still going to class. It’s the middle of the season, a good chance to rejuvenate.”

On implementing changes into the Dayton game: “The flow of the game was what gave us the momentum to keep going. We started off strong and it was kind of the first time we officially played zone for the whole game. Maybe doing something new kind of got us more energized. Maybe you hit that wall where it’s a runner’s high and you kept going. We broke through that wall. We talk a lot about the basics and things that maybe are “elementary” that you learn when you’re young. I don’t think basketball is as complicated as people try to make it. Us emphasizing the little things on both sides of the ball you win with a good foundation. If you have a good foundation, it’s only up from there but if you don’t the basics once the tsunami hits and once the wind hits, you might fall.”