Feb. 8, 2014

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PITTSBURGH - In a battle of the top two teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, Dayton defeated the Duquesne women's basketball team 87-77 on Saturday night at the Palumbo Center.

The Dukes (16-8, 8-3 A-10) were led by Wumi Agunbiade with a game-and-season high 30 points. She also had a game-high seven rebounds. April Robinson scored 19 in 6-of-11 shooting.

The Flyers (15-5, 8-1 A-10) had five players score in double-figures, led by Andrea Hoover who scored 23 on 8-of-12 shooting.

The Flyers came out of the gates in the 1st half hitting 6-of-7 shots including a pair of 3-pointers as they had the Dukes doubled-up 16-8 at the 15:30 mark. Duquesne answered with a 14-2 run, which included 3-pointers by Orsi Szecsi and Belma Nurkic and four foul shots and two field goals by Agunbiade, over the next five minutes to take a 22-18 at the midway point of the half.

UD's Celeste Edwards would score back-to-back baskets to tie the score at 22-22 and Ally Malott's and-1 gave the lead back to the Flyers 25-22 coming out of the under-8 media timeout. The Dukes would only get one field goal (Robinson at 6:44) over the next 4:24 as Dayton extended its half-high lead to nine points at 35-26 going into the under-4 media timeout, capping a 17-4 run.

Duquesne would get within three points of tying the game after Nurkic's second 3-pointer, a pair of Jose-Ann Johnson foul shots and back-to-back jumpers by Robinson made the score 40-37 with 1:41 remaining. Amber Deane would close out the scoring with the half's final five points to give UD a 45-37 lead heading into halftime.

Duquesne opened up the 2nd half scoring by scoring a pair of 3-pointers to cut Dayton's lead to four points at 47-43 with 17:29 to play. However, they answered with a 14-4 run over the next 3:15 to take a 14-point lead at 61-47 with 12:28 remaining. The Flyers' advantage would grow to 17 points at 77-60 with 6:16 remaining.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Nurkic and Robinson made the score 77-66 and cut the deficit to 11 points at the 4:52 mark. Robinson's 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining got the Dukes within eight points at 85-77.

"Dayton is a very good basketball program, we look at them as a rivalry and this game had the emotion of a rivalry. We just fell a little short," said head coach Dan Burt.

"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."

Dayton converted 30-of-56 shots while Duquesne was 22-of-63.

"I was very happy with our turnover situation and how we rebounded the ball."

The Dukes had only 12 turnovers and despite being outsized the rebounds were even at 35 apiece.

"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."

UD scored 34 points in the paint to Duquesne's 14 and had 21 fast break points to the Dukes' 10.

"Wumi had an efficient night, getting to the free throw line - 13-for-16, I'll take that every night."

Agunbiade's 13 foul shots were a career-high.

"At the end of the day, it comes down to short shots and layups - that's what it came down to," concluded Burt

The Dukes hit the road one week from tonight when they travel to St. Bonaventure (19-6, 8-2 A-10) for a 1:00 p.m. game against the Bonnies. Duquesne defeated SBU 73-65 earlier this season in the conference opener on Jan. 1st.

GAME NOTES

• Agunbiade was two points short of tying her career-high of 32 points (at North Dakota State, 11/22/11)

• In that game, she recorded 12 free throws, a personal-best until tonight

• Szecsi fouled out in just 17 minutes (3 points, 4 rebounds)

• Dayton blocked eight shots, the most for any opponent against the Dukes this season

• Duquesne hit 10 3-pointers, the second most this season (12 at Kent State, 11/14/13)

Dayton at Duquesne

Team	1 2 F Dayton (15-5, 8-1 A-10) 45 42 87 Duquesne (16-8, 8-3 A-10) 37 40 77