Duquesne Women’s Basketball: Dukes Persevere To Hold Off Mount St. Mary’s In WNIT Opener

by Zachary Weiss

Too many times this season, the Duquesne women’s basketball team blew large leads and as a result found itself in the WNIT.

Up seven early in the second half Friday night against Mount St. Mary’s, another lead was lost. However, this time the Dukes did not panic, and because of that they are moving on to the WNIT second round following a 62-52 victory at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

“It can get to you, there’s no question.” coach Dan Burt said. “To be able to bounce back after losing the lead really helps.”

Wumi Agunbiade, who had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists, agreed with her coach.

April Robinson (left) and Wumi Agunbiade meet the press after Duquesne’s win to open the WNIT. (Photo: Zac Weiss)

“It shows that there’s something special about this team,” Agunbiade said. “Good teams are able to find a way to win and we did that today.”

Orsi Szecsi, usually a starter for Duquesne, came off the bench in this game and had 10 points and nine rebounds. She had a layup after an Agunbiade pass allowing the Dukes to take a 41-40 lead, their first advantage in 5:20 of game action. That helped start a 10-1 run for the home team.

The Mount went on a brief run to pull within 49-47, but ultimately the Dukes had the last run, allowing them to win the game. Burt said it was because of April Robinson. The sophomore guard had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Robinson’s mindset was to keep it simple, take what was given and most importantly not to over think the situation.

“We just had to not turn the ball over,” Robinson said. “They started pressing and we had to keep our composure and get the ball over half court without turning the ball over.

“If we had an easy bucket, we would get it, if not we would run something. We didn’t panic and I feel that’s the biggest thing.”

This game was one of runs. Duquesne opened the game with a 6-2 lead, but The Mount responded with a 14-2 scoring run to take the lead. Throughout the first half the Dukes were out rebounded; after 20 minutes they were down nine in that statistic and 6-2 in offensive rebounds.

Duquesne searched for an answer, playing 11 players and forcing 13 first-half turnovers while going on a 14-2 run to take a 22-18 lead. At the half the Dukes were up 28-23.

Both teams struggled in the first half with neither shooting 35 percent from the field.

“I was disappointed with the way we’ve shot the past three weeks and it continued tonight,” said Burt.

Jose-Ann Johnson opened the second half with a lay-up for Duquesne, but Mount St. Mary’s would go on a 12-2 run, putting them on top by three points.

The victory sets up a second round game Monday night at Michigan. The game is set for 7 p.m. Burt said the Wolverines could make a case for being one of the first four left out of the NCAA tournament.

Still, he feels as though the Dukes non-conference schedule has prepared them for this matchup.

Of note: The Mount St. Mary’s loss ends the career of Sydney Henderson. The redshirt senior tore her ACL as a sophomore but finished her career with the seventh-most points in program history. Her coach Bryan Whitten stated he was proud of her and spoke of her drive which included making over 10,000 shots during the summer.

“I’m a big believer in things happening for a reason,” Whitten said. “She tore her ACL that year because she was supposed to be in the locker room this year. She was a great example for our kids. They really fed off her enthusiasm and energy.”