Duquesne WBB Beats St. Bonaventure Behind McConnell, Hutcherson

On Wednesday, Duquesne women’s basketball took down St. Bonaventure 74-48 to improve to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in the Atlantic 10.

In a fast-paced matchup, both teams ran up and down the floor in the first quarter, setting the tone early for how this one would go. After _ to give the Dukes an early 16-13 lead, in the final minute of the first, Jerni Kiaku went coast-to-coast after grabbing a rebound to score a layup on the other end, building the Dukes’ lead up to five heading into the second.

Early in the second quarter, the Dukes expanded their lead on a three pointer from Gabby Hutcherson. Then, Kiaku made back-to-back layups, and minutes later, the Dukes went on a quick 7-0 run to expand the lead up to 12 points with just over one minute to play in the first half. Megan McConnell, Kiaku, Andjela Matic, and Kiandra Browne all contributed during the run, allowing the Dukes to begin to pull away from the Bonnies.

The second half included more of the same dominance from the Dukes. The Bonnies made their way to the rim three times in the first four minutes of the half for layups, but Duquesne continued to answer. Browne and Hutcherson paced Duquesne, while McConnell caught fire. From the six-minute mark to the four-minute mark in the third quarter, the Duquesne star McConnell made two layups and a three pointer to add to her tremendous stat line.

Duquesne closed out the dominant win in the fourth quarter behind the usual suspects: McConnell, Hutcherson, Matic, Browne, and others. In the final two minutes, Mackenzie Blackford and Fatou Sane both earned buckets as well.

McConnell finished with an impressive stat line of 25 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Hutcherson added 15 points, five rebounds, and four helpers. Kiaku had ten points, Browne had nine, and Matic added eight for the Dukes.

Duquesne out-rebounded the Bonnies 38 to 24 in the win. While the Dukes’ defense made things tough on the Bonnies throughout the game, the turnover battle finished with both teams tied at nine. St. Bonaventure shot just 28% from three-point range in the loss. With the win, the Dukes improved to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in A10 play, and now look to their next game. That game will be played on Saturday at George Mason at 3 p.m.