Duquesne Dukes Win At St. Bonaventure
Guard Olivia Bresnahan had seven points and eight rebounds as part of a 76-63 win at St. Bonaventure. Photo courtesy Stephen Pope
Duquesne Dukes women’s basketball coach Dan Burt wants his team to get a first round bye in the Atlantic-10 Tournament. To accomplish this, his team needs to finish as one of the top four teams in the conference. It is for this reason that Burt considered this two game road trip so important.
Burt inched one step closer to his goal with a 76-63 victory against St. Bonaventure Wednesday – a win that puts his team in fourth place in the Atlantic 10 conference.
More from Duquesne Dukes
- Duquesne: Szamosi’s Transition to America
- Duquesne: Mason Reflects on Transferring Home
- Duquesne Dukes Vs. RMU Colonials: Steel City Clash
- Duquesne Dukes: April Robinson Collects Preseason Basketball Honors
- Duquesne Dukes Selected 11th In Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll
“It’s always a big win when you beat a rival who you have great respect for,” Burt said. “Jim Crowley is a great basketball coach and does so much for his player and it’s a great win anytime you beat St. Bonaventure because they are so well coached and they play so hard. I’m proud of our team, to put five players in double figures and that’s a good sign. We won the rebounding war and got to the free throw line which is indicative of what our success is really about.”
Duquesne (13-8, 5-3 Atlantic 10) was led by guard April Robinson‘s 20 points, while guard Deva’Nyar Workman had 16 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Forward Amadea Szamosi added points and center Jose-Ann Johnson contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
St. Bonaventure (11-10, 1-7 Atlantic 10) was led by Atlantic 10 Preseason First Team selection Katie Healy who had 25 points.
“She’s just going to score it’s that simple,” said Burt. “She’s a very good player and efficient so our goal was to make it as tough on every touch as possible. We did a good job of clogging the lane tonight and hit many of her jumpers with a hand in her face, so I thought we did a pretty decent job of guarding her, she’s just a good player.”
Hannah Little (12 points) and Nyla Rueter (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Bonnies.
The key to the Duquesne victory may have been its 25-31 performance from the free throw line. The Dukes got to the free throw line 13 more times than its opponent and shot 80.6 percent.
“It’s demoralizing to your opponent because they know every time you’re going to the line, you’re making free throws and that’s what we did,” Burt said. “We attack people and that’s on both defense and offense. We try to attack in transition, we try to attack in the paint and when we can get to the free throw line and rebound like we are, it becomes difficult for us to be beat.”
Duquesne’s defense forced seven straight empty possessions for the Bonnies. The Dukes opened on an 11-0 run until St. Bonaventure scored on free throws with 14:53 remaining in the first half. The Bonnies used this as part of a 9-2 scoring run of its own, however Robinson banked a shot in half court to give Duquesne a 32-24 halftime lead.
The Dukes possessed a double digit lead for the majority of the half however St. Bonaventure cut its deficit to 57-52 with under eight minutes to play. Duquesne was undeterred and made its free throws down the stretch to earn the win.
Duquesne finishes it road trip against defending A-10 champion Fordham. Fordham is 15-6 overall and once again leads the conference with a 7-1 record. It lone loss in conference play was to Saint Louis on Jan. 24, a team Duquesne defeated earlier this season.
“We understand that importance of what that game is,” said Burt. “We will have great focus in practice on what Fordham does.”