Duquesne WBB Routs St. Bonaventure

The Duquesne Women’s Basketball Team took to the first of a two-game road trip besting St. Bonaventure by a decisive 80-46 total Sunday afternoon at the Reilly Center.

This is the third time in the last five meetings that the Dukes have held the Bonnies to 50 points or less.

Duquesne (15-6/6-4 Atlantic 10) has now won four consecutive contests, scoring its second highest point total in conference play.

The Dukes were once again led by Megan McConnell’s 17 points, as she shot 7-of-12 from the field, while grabbing nine rebounds and five steals. Jerni Kiaku made all six of her field goals and both free throws, good for 14 points. Mackenzie Blackford totaled 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench.

Duquesne shot 50% from the field and won the rebounding battle 38-36, while defensively forcing 25 turnovers. The Dukes bench overwhelmed the opposition, evidenced by a commanding 42-9 margin. There were 11 players who scored and 11 players who grabbed at least one rebound.

“This is a game where you have a lot of concerns, because they’re a very well coached team and their record is not indicative of their coach,” Duquesne coach Dan Burt stated in a university-issued press release. “I watched their warmups, and I thought it was the best warm up I had seen of any of our opponents all year, and so, very concerned with the game and really happy with how we came out and asserted our will, our talent, our skill, and we played Duquesne basketball. We created a lot of chaos. We created a lot of turnovers and deflections. I believe we had 35 deflections and 25 turnovers, and we got a chance to play everyone today. I think just about everyone played more than 13 minutes, and that was good for us, to be able to get people in, to be able to make some mistakes, and be able to play through those mistakes.”

St. Bonaventure (5-17/1-10 A-10) was contained to one double-figure scorer as Dani Haskell recorded 11 points. Gabby Robinson Forde brought down 10 rebounds.

Kiaku was responsible for both of Duquesne’s first pair of baskets but both sides remained deadlocked heading into the first quarter media timeout.

Coming out of the stoppage, Duquesne went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. McConnell found Gabby Hutcherson for a jumper, then connected with Blackford from three-point range, before calling her own number, earning both a steal and score.

The Bonnies were contained to one basket in the final six minutes of the quarter, which was a Macy Smith three pointer to end the run.

Both Kiaku and McConnell tacked on baskets before quarter’s end, giving Duquesne an 18-8 lead after 10 minutes.

St. Bonaventure started the second quarter with a response with Haskell scoring five points and Caitlin Frost splitting free throws, separating the teams by four points. Bona would never get any closer.

Hutcherson then began Duquesne’s 16-6 run to take back control of this game, first grabbing a rebound and then 15 seconds later handling a Kiaku pass and rising and firing from beyond the arc.

St. Bonaventure matched two different three-point shots, but Fatou Sane’s layup, followed by a Bonnies turnover set the stage for Blackford to make multiple triples in consecutive possessions.

The second three-point make, caused Bona to spend a timeout.

Duquesne would grow the lead after recording the last six points of the half, stretching its advantage to 44-24 at halftime.

This run extended to 12-0 in the beginning stages of the third quarter. Two of those baskets came from Kiandra Browne.

Up 23, Duquesne scored 10 consecutive unanswered points, with Faith Walker burying a pair of free throws, Blackford doing the same, Andjela Matic finding Walker from three-point range, Kiaku grabbing a steal, then finding McConnell for a score and completing the and-one play.

The lead remained a sizeable 69-39 total after three quarters.

With the outcome decided, Burt looked to provide some additional minutes for some reserves. Matic compiled five points in the final 1:28 with a layup and a three-point basket.

Duquesne remains on the road Wednesday when it faces Rhode Island at 6:35. The Dukes triumphed over the Rams earlier in the season.