Duquesne women’s basketball loses heartbreaker to Green Bay

Raegan Moore and Orsi Szecsi speak following a 68-60 loss to Green Bay. Photo by Zachary Weiss

If you’re looking for someone to blame for the Duquesne women’s basketball team’s 68-60 loss to Green Bay Saturday, coach Dan Burt advised pointing the finger at one individual.

“The officiating did not cost us the win today,” Burt said. “Today this is on me. I could have done a much better job coaching our team and that is clearly on me, and me alone.”

Wumi Agunbiade scored a team-high 15 points and is now in ninth place in career scoring after passing Amy Alger and Kathy Radilla.

Raegan Moore had 13 points for the Dukes. Kaili Lukan and Ellen Edison each had 13 points for Green Bay.

Both Moore as well as Orsi Szecsi took this loss hard.

“This loss is probably going to hurt us down the line, it was one of those wins we really wanted to get,” Moore said.

Szecsi looked at Green Bay’s all-time resume which includes 15 conference championships.

“They have experience,” Szecsi said. “If we can win this game, then it shows we can compete with those teams.”

For most of the first half, the Dukes controlled the tempo. With 10:18 left in the first half, Duquesne led by nine. Foul trouble would plague the team and this allowed for Green Bay to tie the game late in the first half.

Duquesne was held to 38.3 percent shooting from the field, but made 13 free throws to hold a 31-29 halftime lead.

Following Green Bay tying the game, Duquesne’s defense contained Green Bay allowing three field goals in 11 minutes. With 8:34 left in regulation, the Dukes were up 52-41.

Green Bay then switched to a 2-3 zone defense and went on a 15-2 run of their own in the turning point of the game.

“We had seven minutes without a score, when Green Bay went zone in the second half,” Burt said. “I think we had some good lucks and touches, but at the end of the day I probably needed to call another timeout and draw something up to give us a look inside.”

Green Bay coach Kevin Borseth also recognized this as the turning point in the game and challenged his players to change the final outcome.

“We were down by nine with seven minutes remaining and I told the kids, a lot can happen in seven minutes,” Borseth said to Green Bay staffer Rachel Buck. “We turned up the intensity defensively, got some big steals and made key free throws down the stretch, and that was key for us in the win.”

Four of Duquesne’s five starters (April Robinson, Szecsi, Agunbiade and Jose-Ann Johnson) fouled out before the game’s conclusion while Moore and Belma Nurkic each played with four fouls. A total of 55 fouls were called in this game.

Up 58-57 with 1:39 left in regulation, Green Bay missed a 3-point shot and Duquesne had its opportunity to retake the lead. The opportunity was short lived, though, as the Dukes turned the ball over eight seconds later. Kaili Lukan made six of the team’s eight free throws in that time to seal the win.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t sleep,” Burt said. “I’m a coach and anytime you have a loss of any sort, you take it very deeply. There probably won’t be a lot of sleep at my house tonight and there probably won’t be for a long time.”

Duquesne will next play Wednesday at home against Buffalo. Tip-off time is scheduled for 11 a.m. and it is Education Day.