WBB Defeats Saint Francis on Education Day 69-38
Dec. 5, 2012
PITTSBURGH - Wumi Agunbiade (22 points, 11 rebounds) and Jocelyn Floyd (15 points, 11 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles to lead the Duquesne women's basketball team (7-1) to its sixth straight victory after its 69-38 win over Saint Francis (4-3) on Wednesday afternoon. The game was the Second Annual Education Day, which saw over 2,000 students in attendance from local elementary schools. Belma Nurkic added 11 points and Orsi Szecsi seven for DU. Nickia Gibson had a team-high 10 points for the Red Flash The Dukes started off hot, making six of its first 12 shots and forcing eight Red Flash turnovers to build an early 15-2 lead by the 13 minute mark of the first half. DU's lead would grow to 21 points at the midway point of the half after a 3-pointer by Nurkic made the score 22-6. The Dukes would retain the 21-point lead after an Agunbiade layup made the score 31-10 with 6:46 remaining until halftime. However, that would be Duquesne's final points before halftime as Saint Francis ended the half on an 11-0 run making the score 31-21 heading into halftime. Duquesne opened the second half on a 21-5 run and by the 12:42 mark, the Dukes doubled-up the Red Flash 52-26. The DU lead would stretch to 31 points at 61-30 after a Floyd layup with 6:49 remaining. After a Floyd layup, the Dukes would take its largest lead of the contest 33 points - 67-34 with 2:58 to play. As a team, Duquesne grabbed a season-best 54 rebounds, blocked seven shots (five from Agunbiade) and shot a season-best 73 percent (16-22) from the foul line. DU's defense, which forced 28 SFU turnovers, tied a season-low for opponents scoring. Additionally, the defense held the Red Flash without a 3-point field goal (0-15) and only 11 trips to the foul line. Saint Francis converted only 4-of-11 attempts (36.4 percent). "We came out with a great deal of energy defensively and set the tone in the beginning of the game, which created a lot of our offense," said head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "We know Saint Francis is a good shooting team and they play well together, so we wanted to disrupt what they wanted to do." Duquesne held SFU to 17 field goals on 54 attempts (31.5 percent). "After hitting that dry spell at the end of the first half, we regrouped and set the tone to start the second half." The Dukes missed their final seven shots and committed seven turnovers in the final 6:36 of the first half, but opened the second half making 5-of-9 shots. "Jocelyn and Wumi were all over the boards at both ends today and added points. Overall, it was a great team effort, we got contributions from everyone," concluded Coach Serio. Floyd's 11 rebounds was a new career-high. The Dukes remain at home to face Pitt in the annual City Game on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is at 2:00 p.m, GAME NOTES
Saint Francis at Duquesne
|
