March 5, 2004
Box Score
Philadelphia, Pa. - The Duquesne women's basketball team improved to 16-12 on the season with a 73-44 victory over Massachusetts in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Championship in Philadelphia. The win advances the Dukes to face host and No. 2 East seed Saint Joseph's at 2:00 pm on Saturday. Duquesne, the No. 3 West seed, was led by Aiga Bautre with 15 points and Loui Hall with 12. Also hitting double figures were Candace Futrell with 11 and Marie Stankevich with 10 markers. Hall and Nicole Sinclair led the team in rebounding with six each. Shiri Sharon led the game with nine assists and snagged a team-high five steals.
Duquesne saw all nine players score in the contest.
Edris Bailey led UMass with 18 points, seven rebounds and six steals.
The Dukes used an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 edge over UMass at the 16:17 mark and extended it's lead to a 24-10 margin over the next eight minutes out-scoring the Minutewomen 16-8. Duquesne then suffered five minutes of scoreless play as UMass hit four straight, breaking their own five-minute score drought, for a 14-24 reach at 4:51. Sharon was sent to the line and made both tosses for a 26-14 edge at 3:46. Duquesne held a 31-18 edge at the break.
Candace Futrell, the A-10 Co-Player of the Year, got into early foul trouble and played just 10 minutes in the first half and was held scoreless. The Dukes out-shot the Minutewomen .462 (12-26) to .360 (9-25) from the field and held a 16-14 edge in rebounding.
Duquesne sprang to a 9-2 run to open the second half and extended its lead to a 40-20 margin at 17:21. They would go on to hold a 54-29 lead with 11:28 ticking and never look back. The closest the Minutewomen would get in the second frame was 18 points (24-42) with 15:26 to go in the game.
Duquesne out-shot UMass .500 (28-56) to .351 (20-57) from the field and connected on 8-10 shots from the free throw line for a .800 accuracy. The Minutewomen held a 35-31 rebounding margin while Duquesne collected 13 steals in the game.
Duquesne (16-12, 10-6) will take on the host team for the tournament, Saint Joe's, Saturday, March 6, at 2:00 p.m. The Hawks, the number 2 seed from the A-10 East Division, are 18-9 overall, 12-4 in league play. SJU topped the Dukes 64-58 in their only meeting this season on January 4th on Hawk Hill.
