PITTSBURGH — The Duquesne Dukes (4-5, 0-0 A10) fell to the Temple Owls (5-3, 0-0 A10) 67-55 Sunday afternoon at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Mia Davis posted 22 points for the Owls while grabbing 8 rebounds. Dukes guard Megan McConnell notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but shot only 4-for-10 from the free throw line.
The Dukes started off slow as Temple took an early 4-0 lead. In fact, Duquesne did not take their first lead of the game until nearly three minutes into the second quarter after Amaya Hamilton hit a mid-range jumper to make it 15-14.
The Owls kept it close – regaining the lead briefly with just over two minutes to play in the second quarter – but Duquesne used an 8-point run capped off by a Megan McConnell three-pointer as time expired to take a 32-27 lead into halftime.
The teams traded the lead three times in the third quarter. Laia Sole tied the game 37-37 with just over three minutes to play and once more at 39-39 about a minute later. temple tied the game 41-41 on an Aniya Gourdine layup with 1:27 to play and Temple eventually ended the quarter with a 46-44 advantage.
Temple outscored the Dukes 21-11 in the fourth quarter alone, which included points from seven different Owls. Duquesne went 4-for-13 from the field in the fourth quarter and 20-for-61 overall.
Head coach Dan Burt spoke about the poor shooting performance.
“You can’t be a successful team when you shoot that poorly and when you turn the ball over 18 times,” said Burt after the game.
There was a point during that fourth quarter that seemed to be the turning moment for Temple to secure the win. With about three minutes left to play, Duquesne guard Libby Bazelak was l knocked down and turned the ball over. On the ensuing Temple possession, she was knocked down once more on defense. Burt was frustrated at the turn of events and showed his displeasure on the sideline. He received a technical foul and Temple was awarded two free throws. What little bit of air may have been left in the Dukes’ sails was gone.
Megan McConnell spoke about what she believed to be the turning point in the game as well.
“I think the turning point was when they didn’t call the over-and-back on Libby [Bazelak]. She boxed out, she got position, you have to call that,” said McConnell after the game.
Duquesne finished the game shooting 10-for-19 from the free throw line and 5-for-27 from beyond the arc. The Dukes shot just under 33% from the field.
Duquesne will travel to face Kent State next on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.
MAJOR FOCUS: DUQUESNE FALLS TO TEMPLE, 67-55
