After Duquesne’s double-digit victory over Fordham (6-10, 1-2, A10) only two other teams remain undefeated in A-10 conference, Saint Bonaventure(14-2, 3-0, A10) and George Washington (13-3, 3-0, A10).
Starting with their November 20, 86-62 win at Howard, the Dukes have posted double-digit wins.
Duquesne’s 15-1 record is its best start in program history.
The Dukes opened the contest with a 10-0 run started by a pair of free throws by Amadea Szamosi. It wasn’t until Danielle Padovano made a jump shot at the 4:38 mark in the first quarter, that Fordham was able to regain their composure and put points on the board.
Shortly afterwards, Fordham battled back with a 6-0 run to close to within four of the Dukes, 14-10 at the close of the first quarter. This would be the closest Fordham would come to catching Duquesne.
Duquesne’s perfected defense kept Fordham away from the basket, forcing it to shoot from the three-point range, holding the Rams to a 22 percent success rate from the paint, and a dismal 11 percent from the 3-point range.
Apparently Deva’Nyar Workman’s mandate — ‘We don’t want anybody coming in here thinking this is their house—this is our house and we plan on keeping it that way,” the 5′ 10″ senior guard said December 16 after the Dukes punishing 79-54 win over Slippery Rock — has been taken to heart by her teammates.
Workman posted five points Sunday, which put her recording over 500 career points.
Duquesne women’s basketball head coach Dan Burt said, “We wanted to try and generate turnovers instead of just working the clock. But we also wanted to work the clock so when they got down there they had 18, 17 on the shot clock.” The Dukes were able to force four Ram’s turnovers.
Emile Gronas’ three-pointer with 9:50 remaining in the game, gave the Dukes a 20 point lead 43-23, their largest of the game.
Overall, Szamosi and Chassidy Omogrosso led the Duke’s scoring efforts with a combined 35 points. Szamosi came close to posting a double-double, with 23 points, nine rebounds and one assist. Omogrosso came away with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
The Dukes shot 36 percent from the paint and 32 percent of their 3-pointers.
Burt compared playing Fordham “like going to the dentist,” crediting its defense to holding the Dukes to just 55 points. In fact, the Duke’s April Robinson who averages 14.6 points per game ended up being shut out of its scoring effort.
Fordham hit 27 percent from inside and 14 percent from the 3-point range. Lauren Holden with 14 points and two assists led the Ram’s scoring.
After making a short road trip to face Rhode Island (7-8, A10 1-2), the Dukes return home to defend their 19 game at-home winning streak against George Washington on Jan. 17 and Saint Bonaventure on the 23rd.
