hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Dayton women hand Duquesne their third A10 conference loss
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Dayton women hand Duquesne their third A10 conference loss
Pittsburgh - The Dayton Flyers in an emotional and physical game gave the Dukes their third Atlantic 10 Conference loss, and the second in a row, 87-77 tonight at the AJ Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh.
"Tonight is a must win, this is why I love coaching basketball," said Dukes head coach Dan Burt before the game. Going into the game, both teams were evenly matched and were tied for first place in the A 10 Conference. Both teams started strong and fast through most of the first half, in back-and-forth type game. Duquesne ran their typical hurry up, fast-paced offense early on. However, the Flyers played an almost picture perfect zone defense that made it hard for the Dukes to penetrate. The Flyers came out of the gate in the first half hitting 6-of-7 shots including a pair of 3-pointers as they had the Dukes up 16-8 at the 15:30 mark. While the Flyer's lead was at most six points during the first half, the Dukes did close to three, 40-37 with 1:41 remaining when Belma Nurkic hit a second 3-pointer and Jose-Ann Johnson made to free throws. It was all Flyers the second half as the Dukes found it often difficult to penetrate the Flyer's tough 3-2 zone defense. The Dukes were forced to take more of their shots from the outside. With 6:16 left the Flyers increased their lead to 17 points, 77-60. Starting at the 4:32 mark, a hurry-up offense helped the Dukes to close within 10 points. The Flyers Andrea Hoover led her team in scoring racking up 23 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists. However, the game-high scorer was the Dukes AGUNBIADE, Wumi who hit 30 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Burt said, "When one team shoots 54 percent for the field and the other 35 percent, you're probably not going to win against a team of this caliber. If we make out short shots, it's a whole different game. But you got to be able to make layups inside." The Flyers hit 56 percent of their field goals and 43 percent of their 3-pointers. The Dukes hit 34 percent of field goals and 50 percent of 3-pointers. "They definitely took it at us in the paint and because of the way they run their offense, they were able to get dribble penetration and get some easy baskets," Burt said. The Dukes (16-8, 8-3 A 10) are on the road one week next Saturday when they travel to St. Bonaventure (19-6, 8-2 A-10) for a 1:00 p.m. game against the Bonnies
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Dayton women hand Duquesne their third A10 conference loss