Noah Fries | staff writer

After a first half categorized by continuously clawing back into the game, the Duquesne women’s basketball team fell victim to a Saint Joseph’s squad that came out blazing in the third quarter — eventually pulling away for a 72-53 victory at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks shot 11 of 12 (91.7%) from the field in the third quarter, including going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. After taking a 4-point lead into halftime, the 27-point quarter put Saint Joseph’s up comfortably for good.

With the loss, Duquesne’s record fell to 7-13 overall and 0-9 in conference play — including taking a loss in each of the last eight contests after beating Pitt in the City Game on Dec. 21. Since the start of the meat of their A10 schedule, the Dukes have gone winless in the conference.

“Today, obviously we were beaten by a better team. I have a lot of respect for [Saint Joseph’s Head Coach] Cindy [Griffin] and the St. Joe’s program,” Duquesne Head Coach Dan Burt said. “She’s a heck of a basketball coach, and they run their stuff really, really well. They have a lot of confidence, a lot of experience, and frankly they have a lot of momentum. We don’t have any of those three right now.”

Burt declined to have any players available for comment after the game.

Saint Joseph’s junior guard Gabby Casey scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer with 7:46 remaining in the first quarter. After this bucket, Duquesne would not gain a lead for the entire game, outclassed by Saint Joseph’s 50% true shooting.

The Dukes started the game with seven empty possessions, with the first made field goal coming from sophomore guard Faith Walker on a pullup mid-range shot halfway through the first quarter, finally providing a spark to a sputtering Duquesne offense.

After being down by four after the first quarter, Duquesne tightened up on defense — with rotations forcing Saint Joseph’s to be 1 for its last 9 three-pointers at one point — in the second quarter, with a three from sophomore guard Mackenzie Blackford knotting the game at 23.

Saint Joseph’s quickly went on an 8-0 run after the Blackford three and took a 33-29 advantage into the half. Casey had a game-high 11 points going into the break for the Hawks, while junior guard Reina Green led the Dukes with seven — with three others right behind her with six.

Duquesne had a very balanced attack on offense, which helped take some defensive pressure off freshman phenom guard Alexis Bordas — who only attempted four field goals in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Dukes, the balanced attack didn’t last throughout the second half. Duquesne was only able to score 24 points, less than what Saint Joseph’s was able to put up in the third quarter alone.

“We’re deficient in terms of being able to really get a bucket,” Burt said. “So that puts a tremendous amount of stress on Alexis Bordas to create and get her own shots. I’d love for us to be able to have four kids that are in double figures, or three kids in double figures. But right now that’s not the case. And frankly, we’re really struggling to score. The magic number for us is, if we can get to 60, we feel that we have a chance to win. But that didn’t happen tonight.”

Duquesne tried to fight back in the fourth quarter after the blistering third by the Hawks but was unable to get any real momentum going. The Dukes went on a streak of nearly five minutes without scoring a basket in the fourth, and Saint Joseph’s coasted to a 19-point victory.

Bordas led the Dukes with 13 points and a team-high two steals. Sophomore forward Harriet Ford and Blackford both tallied nine points, while sophomore center Maja Rohkohl paced the team in rebounds with five.

Casey tallied a career-high 26 points on 9 of 12 (75%) shooting from the field – including 5-for-7 (71.4%) from three-point land — for the Hawks, while also tallying a game-high 10 rebounds to notch her third double-double of the season. Casey’s performance resulted in the A10 Player of the Week honor.

The nine conference losses for Duquesne are just one shy from tying the most conference losses in a season in the Dan Burt era with nine conference games still to come. The Dukes went 6-10 in the conference in the 2021-22 season.
Despite the recent struggles, Burt still has confidence in his players as the team hits a crucial stretch to end January.

“I can’t say enough about the players in our locker room,” Burt said, “getting up off the mat after every defeat and still coming to practice and giving great effort like they are. They are doing the best that they can in a tough situation, and they’re great young women. Right now, we have to find small victories.”

Noah Fries can be reached at friesn@duq.edu