Duquesne WBB Holds Off George Mason; Advances To A-10 Semis

Glen Allen, Va. — Friday afternoon at the Henrico Sports & Events Center featured a game made for March, but for all of the twists and turns, Dan Burt saw the game clock at 1.2 seconds, his Duquesne Women’s Basketball Team in front by a single point over George Mason and asked his team a question.

Knowing the Patriots had enough time to catch an inbounds pass, dribble and shoot, he asked his five players on the court if they defensively wanted to switch everything or stick with their matchup.

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Duquesne chose the latter and when George Mason’s final-second attempt fell off the mark, the Dukes could celebrate a 63-62 victory, earning an Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal berth for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

“We’re at the point now where they have ownership, this is their team,” Dukes coach Dan Burt assessed. “I’m just a steward in a sense and you have to give them some ownership for all of the work they do and effort they put in. That’s what they wanted to do, and we came away with the win.”

It was a contest which saw two Dukes post players foul out, a pair of intentional fouls in between free throws, a second consecutive game with a early run and when the dust settled, Duquesne exacted some revenge against a George Mason team which put up 100 points in the regular season victory.

“I think this goes to show how much volume this speaks,” guard Megan McConnell explained. “When we played George Mason in one of the first conference games, we lost by 30. Now there’s obviously a different outcome, so that goes to show how much we’ve grown this year and I’m just really proud. I’m glad to be still playing.”

Tess Myers led the way with 12 points for Duquesne. Myers has found her shot in Richmond and her ability to be shot ready has particularly been advantageous when the Dukes have gone on runs.

“I think we’re the most connected we’ve been all year and we want it, so we’re going to go out on the court and play for each other, for our coaches and this means a lot us,” stated Myers. “We’re going to give it our all, we’ve proven that and we’re ready.”

Precious Johnson posted 11 points before fouling out and Jerni Kiaku also made a bench impact with her 10 points.

George Mason had Sonia Smith post a game-high 24 points and Paula Suarez offered 17 points.

In the first half, Duquesne was challenged to drill three-point shots and came through with eight triples, six of which were assisted.

Four of those trifectas came during a 16-2 run which allowed the Dukes to place an early stamp on the game.

George Mason responded back with eight points of its own and would cut the deficit to 21-15 after a quarter.

Duquesne went back to its three-point shooting, first with Myers opening the quarter from downtown and then Amaya Hamilton doing the same in transition, placing the Dukes back in front by double figures.

The lead would reach 13 points, but after a McConnell basket, her lone score in the first half, Duquesne was held off the scoreboard for the final 3:55.

It was the Patriots tenacity which allowed them to go on a run and separated the teams by 34-28 on the halftime scoreboard.

George Mason’s run extended to 11-0 after making the opening pair of baskets in the third quarter.

Duquesne regrouped when Ayanna Townsend converted an and-one opportunity but both she and Johnson endured foul trouble which would play a factor towards the end of this contest.

Johnson still made her presence known though her and-one opportunity drew the ire of the Patriots bench. The officiating crew looked at the play, counting the basket but judging that she used her elbow to displace George Mason’s Taylor Jameson. This gave Johnson her fourth personal foul.

Later on in the quarter, Kiaku went to the free throw line and after her first make, Lauren Wasylson appeared to say something which drew Suarez’s attention. The latter pointed it out and Wasylson and Burt were both assessed intentional fouls.

Smith converted three of four free throws, giving George Mason the lead.

Hamilton would have something to say about that as she came away with a crucial rebound and after being fouled, screamed with happiness. She then slowed her heartrate down as her Dukes led 51-50 after three quarters.

Both teams struggled to gain a firm grasp on momentum in this game but Duquesne appeared to have something when Kiaku sped down the court after a steal and converted the lay in.

Suarez had a quick response with a three-point basket, once again tying the game.

Townsend would foul out with just over three minutes remaining in regulation and George Mason took the lead down the stretch.

That was when Kiaku again drove after a steal and tied the game up.

When McConnell saw Johnson establish an angle, her pass set up a shot which rattled home and held true, placing Duquesne back in front down the stretch.

All season long, Duquesne has talked about how it had learned to close games and with Townsend out and Johnson disqualified from the game five seconds after what turned out to be the game-winning basket, it was tested once more in the highest stakes of the season.

“We’re such a veteran group so we’ve been in this position a lot of times so we’ve been prepared for this moment,” stated McConnell. “When it’s time to shine, I think we have that group to pull through and we did today, so I’m really proud.”

Smith would sink a free throw and after Kiaku missed a layup, her pursuit off of the miss led to a rebound and timeout.

George Mason still had a foul to give with 8.4 seconds remaining in regulation, placing Duquesne in the driver’s seat.

Coming out of the timeout, the Dukes threw the ball away, meaning the Patriots had an opportunity to go for the win.

“My teammates and coaches were talking to me and we had to focus on getting one stop,” Myers observed. “I had that terrible turnover but I couldn’t change it so we had to keep moving forward and getting that stop. Those 1.2 seconds felt like 20 minutes, but we got the stop and fought through it.”

Initially George Mason appeared to have an and-one opportunity as official Whitney Armstrong ruled the Patriots shooter was in the act, but the play was reviewed and the call was overturned.

This upset George Mason as the call changed to Duquesne using its foul to give, leaving 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Mason’s Zaza Walton caught the ball and had a look, but her shot was not true and Duquesne stormed the court in celebration.

The Dukes victory makes it the second team in this championship that was a lower seed and bested a high seed.

“That’s March Madness,” assessed Burt. “Obviously I’m very happy with our team’s grit and composure and maturity today. George Mason is a very well-coached team and they play incredibly hard. We knew that they would going to make their run and challenge us, but we burned the ships.”

Duquesne will have a third crack at Richmond in the first of two Saturday semifinals. Both teams have won the contest held on its home court. The game will tip off at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network.

UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Saturday afternoon’s Rhode Island- Saint Louis game, the Atlantic 10 Conference released the following statement in relation to the play with 0.5 seconds remaining.

“The Atlantic 10 acknowledges the misconception of the rules by the officials working the Duquesne vs George Mason women’s basketball quarterfinal game on March 8. The decision made by the crew to reverse a call remaining at .5 seconds remaining was not permitted within the rules. The A-10 apologizes to both George Mason and Duquesne universities, the student-athletes, coaches and fans as the decision made to review the play was incorrect and diminished the overall quality of the contest. The A-10 expects the highest quality of officiating from experienced crews and unfortunately, we fell short yesterday impacting our student-athletes and teams. The league office and coordinator of officials has addressed the issue, took appropriate action and pledges to do better in the future.”

The officials from that game were Brandon Appel, Whitney Armstrong and Justin Paluch.