Duquesne WBB’s Shooting Woes Lead To Road Loss

The Duquesne Women’s Basketball Team fell 81-60 Wednesday night on the road to Kent State, dropping to 3-2 on the season.

“We were exposed tonight for some of our deficiencies by a very well coached Kent State team,” head coach Dan Burt stated in university-issued press release. “They played a little bit more man than we anticipated and sat in gaps which was to their benefit, because we kept shooting threes. When you’re one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, you hope it’s going to turn around. I felt like we got a lot of good looks and unfortunately, we shot it poorly today and that’s a big part of the outcome.”

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Megan McConnell led Duquesne with 19 points and 10 rebounds, good for her second double-double of the season and 27th as a Duke. Jerni Kiaku amassed 10 points of her own.

Duquesne had its struggles from three-point range, going 5-for-34, a 14.7% clip.

Kent State (2-3) saw Dionna Gray lead the way with her 20 points, which included making all 11 of her free throws. Mya Babbitt added 14 points, which Jenna Batsch and Bridget Dunn rounded out the quartet of Golden Flashes double digit scorers with 13 and 11 points respectively.

It was an ideal start to this game for Duquesne as Kiaku scored the contest’s first four points of the evening and Kent State opened 1-7 from the field, but the Golden Flashes would be able to recover, to the tune of an 8-0 run.

Neither team was able to shoot at a high clip in the first half, but the Dukes were stunted by a 3-for-21 effort from three-point range in the first half. While Duquesne played 13 in the first half, it committed 12 fouls to Kent State’s four.

Kent State went 11-12 from the free-throw line in the opening half, which was a critical difference, especially with Duquesne not taking any such shots.

In terms of the first quarter, neither team was truly able to distinguish itself by much and this proved true 10 minutes in as the teams reached a 15-15 stalemate.

While Duquesne was able to shoot 43.8% from the field, it failed to connect on all seven of its three-point tries.

The Dukes were briefly able to reclaim a lead with Megan McConnell earning a layoff off a Fatou Sane turnover.

A crucial 7-0 Kent State run allowed for the lead to have some separation, ultimately settling for a 36-29 mark at the half.

Kent State scored the third quarter’s first four points, extending the lead to double digits, using a 9-3 run to activate a Duquesne timeout.

Down by 13, Duquesne nearly cut its deficit in half after a Nadia Moore jumper held true.

As the Dukes attempted to get closer, Kiaku was assessed a technical. Kent State held a 57-47 lead after three quarters.

With Duquesne down 12 as the midway portion of the final quarter approached, it went scoreless for a crucial 3:18 stretch and could only get to within 14 points from that moment forward.

It was a second half to forget from a shooting standpoint as the Dukes shot 26.3% and 25% in the final two periods.

Duquesne next returns home to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Monday for a 6 p.m. tilt against Robert Morris. The contest will be carried by ESPN+.