Duquesne Women's Basketball
Michalowski: It’s Time to Watch Duquesne Women’s Basketball
“We’re the city champs again,” Dan Burt said confidently, wrapping up his opening statement after Wednesday night’s win over rival Pitt.
Duquesne women’s basketball is in a good place right now. The team has won two-straight games against Pitt, and 11 of 17 since Burt has been at Duquesne, both as an assistant and, for the last 12 years, as the head man. Wednesday night’s win was a special one for the Dukes — who battled through a ferocious second-half comeback effort from Khadija Faye and the Panthers to come out on top.
While that game is the big rivalry in the city in women’s hoops, the Dukes have their eyes on a bigger prize. They want to win championships this year.
I believe they have the personnel, and the program culture, to do so.
First, they have the best player in the city.
Megan McConnell is that player — the superstar of the city’s women’s hoop scene. She affects winning in a multitude of ways. She leads the team in minutes, field goals made, three pointers made, points, rebounds, assists, and steals, currently, among other statistics. She is vocal — before, during, and after games — lighting a fire underneath her teammates when they need a spark, and celebrating her teammates when they’ve succeeded.
“Her maturity off the floor has always been good, but she has taken that to another level in terms of her leadership capabilities,” Burt said about McConnell after a win over Robert Morris. “Her goals are attainable and reachable, and that is, to win at Atlantic 10 championship and play in the NCAA Tournament, and to play in the WNBA. Those are all realistic goals.”
The Dukes play a fun brand of ball. They aggressively trap opponents in their full-court press to cause havoc on the defensive end, and can beat you in transition as well as the half-court offensively. They have quick guards, and they have size. McConnell is the ring leader. Almost every time down the floor when she is leading a fastbreak, McConnell has her head up, looking to make the best play — even when it’s not going to be a shot off of her hands. The two-time All-A10 selection has shown exponential growth in each year of her career – and it has translated to Burt’s program finding success. Her impact, not only on the program’s culture, but also on the team’s on-court success, has been immense.
“If you live in Pittsburgh and you like basketball, the best player in this city is Meg McConnell, male or female, and frankly, if you love basketball, you’re going to come watch a kid like that play,” Burt said. “There’s a certain joy in watching someone like her play.”
It’s hard to argue with Burt. McConnell is a threat to drop a triple double each night she takes the court. For Burt’s group, she is the one that everyone looks to for leadership. However, the team has talent all over the court.
“We’re playing six freshmen, we’ve got, I think, the best player in the city, and I think we’ve got the second-best player in the city,” Burt said after beating Pitt. “Everyone knows about Meg McConnell. People need to know who Jerni Kiaku is, too. She’s just as good. If Meg is Batman, she’s aquawoman.”
Kiaku took home MEAC Freshman of the Year honors in her rookie season at North Carolina Central, before transferring to Duquesne. She was a proven collegiate player at the time, but the jump from MEAC to A10 ball is significant. Regardless, she burst onto the scene last year for the Dukes, improving throughout the year and playing a big role in the operation. Her season high in points, 19, came against Purdue in the WNIT. That performance was a sign of what was to come in her junior campaign, the 2024-25 season.
Through seven games, Kiaku has been spectacular. She has started all seven games for the Dukes, and is playing, on average, eight more minutes per game than she did last year. Her production has skyrocketed across the board. Kiaku is shooting it better from the field, from the free-throw line, and from three. Her assist and rebound numbers have improved. Her scoring has been magnificent.
Kiaku is a scrappy, quick defender. She is very coordinated, and a tremendous athlete. Kiaku’s speed comes into play on both sides of the ball. She’ll pick your pocket or intercept a pass you thought was sure to make it to your teammate. Then, it’s off to the races. Kiaku showed off her coast-to-coast skill set numerous times throughout the game at Pitt, blowing by defenders and getting all the way to the basket to finish. She hit two threes in the game, too — and both came in huge moments down the stretch.
“She is unstoppable in the open floor because of her speed and her ability to finish at the rim,” Burt said Wednesday. “She’s really dynamic in that open floor, but when she’s making threes, then it becomes really, really difficult to guard her.”
Pittsburgh’s hooper of the night
Jerni Kiaku | @DuqWBB
20 PTS
7-11 FG
2-4 3FG
6 REB
2 AST
2 STL pic.twitter.com/Ipr0qSkiAg— George Michalowski (@MichalowskiCBB) December 5, 2024
Alongside McConnell and Kiaku, the Dukes have a deep roster. They have size with two 6-foot-2 players, Gabby Hutcherson and Kiandra Browne, and those two are not strictly back-to-the-basket bigs by any means. Browne is shooting 38% from three-point land this year, including perhaps the biggest make of her season. With 25 seconds to play and less than two seconds on the shot clock, Browne banked in a three pointer, extending Duquesne’s lead up to six and sinking the Panthers’ comeback attempt.
Hutcherson has shown that she can score inside and out, too. She is currently averaging ten points per contest, and is the team’s second-leading rebounder. While she clearly has the positional size and talent to be a productive player in the A10 this year, perhaps more importantly, Hutcherson is happy where she is.
“It really makes me really happy, because she [Hutcherson] deserves this more than anyone,” McConnell said after Hutcherson dropped a season-high 20 points against Saint Francis. “When she came to Duquesne — let me not get emotional — when she came to Duquesne, she’s had a pretty rough go around at the schools she was at prior. I’m just really happy she found her home here. This is where she belongs, and I couldn’t be happier for her.”
I haven’t even mentioned the Dukes’ other weapons, such as freshmen Nadia Moore and Mackenzie Blackford and junior guard Andjela Matic. Those three, along with Kaitlyn Ammons, Raymi Coueta, Reina Green, Fatou Sane, Kellie McConnell, and Faith Walker, make up a special group that seems connected on and off the floor.
It starts at the top.
Burt leads by example. Before and after every game, he is shaking hands.
He genuinely cares about his team, those who support his team, and those who support women’s basketball. After his team took down Saint Francis, Burt wasn’t the happiest with their performance. He knew they had to work on some things before the game against Pitt. Regardless, after he spent 20 minutes speaking with reporters after the game, he introduced himself to a stadium staff member and thanked him for cleaning up the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse late at night. I watched from afar as he asked the staff member about his story, getting to know the man, who didn’t seem to realize he was talking to the head coach.
Following the Robert Morris game, myself and other reporters were in the press room with Burt and several members of Duquesne’s athletic department. Unprompted, Burt asked each person in the room about their plans for Thanksgiving, and made sure everyone had somewhere to go. Several of Duquesne’s players went over to Burt’s house for the holiday.
There is a genuine feeling around the program that runs from the head coach, to the star player, to the team managers. The talent is there. The brand of basketball is fun. It’s time to get down to a Duquesne women’s basketball game.
