Dukes outlast Xavier 68-49

The Duquesne women's basketball team beat Xavier for the first time in eight years to the day with a 68-49 victory at the A.J. Palumbo Center Wednesday night. The Dukes have failed to top the Musketeers nine times since their Jan. 11, 2004, victory, but came out on top behind Orsi Szecsi's game-high 15 points.

The Dukes (13-4, 1-1) failed to execute their game plan to begin the first half, shooting 26.3 percent from the field with seven turnovers at the 7:46 mark. The Dukes were fouling Xavier (3-12, 0-2) early and often in the first half with nine team fouls, and the Musketeers made it count, going 7-for-11 from the free-throw line in the first half.  

Duquesne stormed out of a timeout at the 7:46 mark and finished the half on a 20-10 run, giving them a 33-28 lead. Szecsi led the run scoring, getting 10 of her 15 points in that stretch. Szecsi added five rebounds and went 3-for-5 from 3-point range.  

"I just wanted to calm down and get into the flow of the game, and I was lucky I was making shots … but I don't remember what happened. I just looked up, and we were winning by two," Szecsi said.

In the second half, the Dukes found a way to turn their early aggression into a productive energy.  Led mostly by their stout 2-2-1 zone defense, they forced 27 Musketeer turnovers in the game.  

"We just needed to be more aggressive, and we figured that going into a press would really help for us to get some steals and turnovers," Wumi Agunbiade said.

Agunbiade was held in check during the first half in terms of scoring. She went 0-for-4 from the field with only four points, but she still found ways to contribute by pulling down four rebounds, helping the Dukes win the possession battle. She found her stroke in the second half, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and shot 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

The Red and Blue also finished with contact, getting the third point four times following Musketeers' shooting fouls. 

"[It's] no secret that we have been struggling from the perimeter," coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said. "Just trying to get the ball to the rim instead of settling for jumpers [helped]."

The Dukes pulled away in the second half going on a 19-1 run from 12:28 to 7:56.

This was the second straight game without senior point guard Vanessa Abel, who is suffering from a stress fracture of her patella. 

"She ended up having surgery on the knee … we won't know anything for two weeks," McConnell-Serio said. "The surgery protected the knee from a fracture."

Jocelyn Floyd took over as point guard with Abel out, scoring 10 points and a season-high eight steals. Alex Gensler had 13 points and four assists but missed her only two 3-point attempts, remaining 15 behind Aiga Bautre for the all-time Duquesne record.  

Leading the way for the Musketeers was junior forward Jessica Pachko, who had 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Pachko added 11 rebounds, but turned the ball over four times.  

With this win, the Dukes avoided going 0-2 in the A-10 for the first time since coach Suzie McConnell-Serio's inaugural season in 2008.

"Every game is so critical in the Atlantic 10, and we just have to come ready to play … [T]his is a grind, and on any given night, anything can happen," McConnell-Serio said.  

The women will play next Jan. 18 at Temple (7-8, 1-1).