Duquesne women dominate Fordham, advance in Atlantic 10 Tournament

Duquesne women’s basketball set the tone early Thursday in its second-round game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament and was never challenged in a 79-63 victory against Fordham.

The No. 9-seeded Dukes (19-11) held No. 8 Fordham (15-15) scoreless for 7 minutes, 24 seconds of the first quarter and took a 28-7 advantage into the second. Duquesne led 64-35 after the third.

The game was a reversal of the first two meetings between the teams. Fordham defeated Duquesne twice during the regular season, 64-62 and 56-53.

This time, four guards — national Player of the Year candidate Megan McConnell (Chartiers Valley), Jerni Kiaku, Andjela Matic and Gabby Hutcherson — took control and led the Dukes to an easy victory. Kiaku scored 21 points, McConnell 17, Matic 15 and Hutcherson nine with six rebounds.

McConnell added seven assists, six rebounds and four steals to help Duquesne coach Dan Burt lead his team to its third consecutive victory in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Overall, the Dukes made nearly half their shots (28 of 59) for a percentage of 47.5.

“I felt like it was a total team effort,” coach Dan Burt said. “We had three people in double figures, but we got many, many contributions, some of those that don’t show up in the box score. How we defended, how we cut, how hard we played.

“(Sophomore guard) Raymi Coueta (three offensive rebounds in 15 minutes) in particular. She kept possessions alive with being so aggressive.”

Next up for the Dukes will be a rematch with top-seeded and defending champion Richmond (26-5) in the tournament quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Friday. The Spiders received a double-bye after winning the Atlantic 10 regular season championship by three games over second-place George Mason.

Duquesne lost to visiting Richmond, 82-58, on Feb. 9 at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.