Duquesne women's basketball preview: Dukes hope new home, better health mean more success

The 2020-21 basketball season was tough on everyone. It hit the Duquesne women perhaps harder than most.

Even the Dukes’ covid disruptions went to another level. Coach Dan Burt’s team had seven games canceled on gameday.

On top of that, there was a spate of injuries. Guard Libby Bazelak and forward Laia Sole played last season at less than 100%, and guard Amanda Kalin tore her ACL in January.

That isn’t all. While their new home at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse was being completed, the Dukes played on five “home” courts.

“I think it makes them appreciate things a lot more,” Burt said. “I think we are all appreciative and incredibly happy to have a locker room, to have an office, to have a practice facility that we have access to 24-7.

“Instead of being hungry, we are just really appreciative of having normalcy.”

Sophomore guard Megan McConnell concurred.

“There’s definitely been a sense of relief,” said McConnell, who averaged 7.5 points and led the team in assists (45) and steals (22) last season. “Especially because we really didn’t really have any summer workouts going into my freshman year, so we had the whole summer to build up our team chemistry, and we got to work together more.

“Especially with the new UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, it has been amazing. … Just being able to practice in our home gym for once was actually really nice.”

But even as routine returns to the Dukes, not all is perfect. Burt said there still are several injury issues plaguing the team. Without going into specifics, Burt said injuries would “affect us all season long.”

The silver lining is the Dukes should be a much better and much more complete team come Atlantic 10 play.

For now, particularly in the nonconference portion of the schedule, several players who otherwise might have seen limited playing time will play more prominent roles. That will prepare them to contribute if and when needed later in the season.

As the regular players get healthy and filter back into the lineup, Duquesne expects to be significantly better than last season’s 5-11 (4-7 A-10) mark.

“We have faced so much adversity,” McConnell said. “We’re not going to complain. We’re not going to regret anything. We’re just going to come together with what we have and who we have and we’re just going to try our best every game.

“I think by December or January we’re going to be a completely different team.”

Bazelak is healthy, and she will team with McConnell in the backcourt, sharing point guard duties. In eight games last season, Bazelak, now a senior, averaged 8.4 points.

McConnell, Burt said, added several pounds of muscle and improved her 3-point shooting. Burt said McConnell’s scoring average might not take a significant jump, but her shooting should be much more efficient. McConnell said her increased strength will help her on drives to the basket.

“And playing alongside a healthy Libby Bazelak will help her tremendously,” Burt said.

Kalin, meanwhile, is, to use Burt’s word, “close” to returning from her ACL injury. The Pine-Richland grad played only six games last season but averaged 15.5 points while shooting nearly 50% from the field.

Burt is expecting a breakout season from 6-foot-4 sophomore Precious Johnson, who started 13 games last season and produced 7.4 points per game and tied Sole for the team lead in rebounds at 5.7 per game. She also had a team-high 21 blocks.

“She could be an all-conference-level post player for us,” said Burt, in his ninth season at the helm. “Her ability to score the basketball and her commitment to rebounding not just in her space but outside of her space makes her a very valuable member.”

Tess Myers, a Lower Burrell native who graduated from North Catholic, is expected to make a bigger contribution. She brings a deft outside shooting touch to the guard corps.

Sole will complement Johnson in the frontcourt along with transfer Fatou Pouye, who came from Western Kentucky. Burt is excited about the athleticism and ability the native of Senegal brings.

“She’s simply an outstanding basketball player,” he said. “She could be the best basketball player on the floor night in and night out for us and whoever we’re playing against all year long.”

Another transfer — and another product of the WPIAL — adds outside shooting. Lauren Wasylson (Mars) spent her first three seasons at Xavier, where she made 64 starts and shot better than 34% from 3-point range.

Duquesne seems to have all the pieces. The key will be holding down the fort until all of them are in place.

Once the Dukes can put their ideal lineup on the floor — or at least one close to it — McConnell said she expects them to have a little something in store for opponents.

“I know we will surprise people,” McConnell said. “I know other opponents will walk into our games thinking it’s going to be a cakewalk, but they are going to think differently once the game starts.”