Duquesne Women's Basketball
Inside the Dukes: WBB Enters Second Season On High Note
Bowling Green Women’s Basketball Coach Fred Chmiel stood motionless at the near side of his team’s bench, stunned by Duquesne’s Mackenzie Blackford who beat the buzzer and gave her team a 19-point halftime advantage.
For most of the afternoon, Duquesne had an answer for everything Bowling Green attempted to throw and the 67-59 victory only was further evidence of this.
“We knew Bowling Green was going to come in with a lot of confidence,” guard Megan McConnell explained. “They came off a really good win against Marquette, so we were really dialed in, and I think we had a really good game plan for them. They have four really good shooters and a good post player. I’m really proud of us.”
There was plenty of adversity for Duquesne in this game, most notably that 40 minutes prior to the tipoff, a decision was made to pull the plug on Jerni Kiaku playing in this game.
Kiaku has shown tremendous growth throughout the season, and it was going to hard to replace her. Duquesne would have to do so by committee with Blackford starting in her place.
This contest was officiated quite tightly with many video reviews and four different Dukes had four fouls.
As coach Dan Burt revealed earlier in the season, assistant coach Frank Ferraro has become his substitution coordinator, joining the offensive and defensive coordinator roles which have long been main tenants.
With Duquesne intending to empty its bench given its style of play, the first half substitution patterns had to be scrapped before the game even began and foul trouble certainly threw those wrinkles. Instead, the pair had to be instinctual and adjust based upon what the game called for.
At times two or three freshmen were on the court together, one of which in Faith Walker had a breakthrough as she was a +15 in seven minutes.
Burt also challenged Duquesne that it needed to be better rebounders, especially against a Bowling Green team which wins the board battle by an average of seven per game. He impressed upon the team that if it wants to take the next step as a team it will display urgency on the glass.
The result? A 40-30 margin.
All told, it worked out as Duquesne led by as many as 24 and now is a 9-2 side, its most successful non-conference slate since the 2015-16 NCAA Tournament season.
“I’m happy we have our health and a great locker room that is really committed to each other,” assessed Burt. “We have some very diverse and different people in that locker room, and they come with strong opinions and there is a great amount of respect for one another. It might be the best locker room that I’ve been associated with in my 18 years at Duquesne. We have outstanding leaders and I’m thankful for our coaching staff. I think our whole staff has adapted to what this vision of how we’re playing is going to be. This is different, not a lot of people play this way and I’m thankful for our staff to embrace this along with our players.”
A FAMILY REUNION
With Kiaku’s absence, Burt was looking for someone to step up. Enter Andjela Matic.
Matic has been a fixture in Duquesne’s starting lineup all season and Saturday she put all of the pieces together earning multiple career highs with her game-high 20 points and nine rebounds.
“I talked to all of my teammates and coaches when I came here, it felt like I had been here for two years,” she reflected. “That atmosphere and it really helped me to adapt to the team. It’s really easy to play with teammates like them. They helped me a lot to find my game, find my role. I knew it was going to come at some point, I have full trust in my teammates and definitely myself.”
Matic has a clear appreciation being part of this team and its fearless approach. It compliments her game and willingness to take big shots in important moments.
The competitiveness brings out the best in her and when there can be uncertainty with a new conference and style of play, she reflected upon how she was embraced.
When the press conference ended, it was brought up that Matic had both her brother and sister in from Serbia and Burt believed their presence over the past couple of days has supplied her with some peace.
“She needed to have a game like this,” he assessed. “She’s from 4,000 miles away roughly and she’s close with them. I’m so happy for her that she was able to have that type of performance in front of them. I know that family is everything to her. I am as happy for her as I am for the win and the team.”
SEEING TRIPLE
In the words of Burt, Meg McConnell woke up, messed around and got a triple double.
At halftime, McConnell was again on watch and by the end of the third quarter she had both the points and assists down, good for her 31st career double-double. She joins Saint Joseph’s Laura Ziegler as the lone players to have multiple triple doubles this season.
Her 10th rebound would be more elusive, going into the fourth quarter, as the stats popped back up on the scoreboard moments before.
As was the case earlier in the season, fans began to look at the scoreboard realizing what was on the verge of occurring.
Ironically, McConnell’s 10th rebound came as she trailed on a fastbreak. Bowling Green’s Lexi Fleming had nothing but the basket in her way, but she heard McConnell’s footsteps and repeatedly looked back. The result was a missed layup, and McConnell was left to grab the 10th rebound, good for her second triple double of the season and fourth in her career.
“I was just trying to do whatever I could to get this win for the team,” McConnell modestly replied. “I was trying to get my teammates in the best possible position, and they were knocking down big shots. None of it is possible without my teammates.”
All season long, Burt has sung McConnell’s praises, and rightfully so. Saturday was no different as the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week has begun to receive national acclaim for her efforts.
“What more could you say about Meg McConnell,” Burt rhetorically asked. “You can say she’s the best basketball player in the city of Pittsburgh. You could say she is now with Korie Hlede as one of the best basketball players that have ever played at Duquesne. You can’t deny what her stats have said and how she has taken our program from when we didn’t have a gym, and we had tons of injuries. From five to 11, to 19 to 21, to what this magical season is becoming, and that’s because of Meg.”
HE SAID IT
“She worked on her body and has really worked on lengthening her stride and have greater flexibility. She’s a good athlete and Kiandra had 15 points but had really timely three-point shots and is a very hard guard because she’s effective in the block with her back to the basket. I tell her in practice every time she shoots the ball from the arc, I believe it’s going to go in. She also in a game that is harder to officiate, took a couple of charges that were timely. Kiandra provides a lot of high-quality minutes for us every single game.” – Burt on Kiandra Browne who scored a career high 15 points in this game
