Women fall short against Bonnies again

It was inevitable that a record would be broken during the women's basketball game Wednesday night, but it was unclear if it would be the Dukes' 11-0 home record or St. Bonaventure's 7-0 Atlantic 10 record. 

It ended up being the Dukes' home record, as they lost 58-53 and fell to 15-7 overall, 3-4 in the A-10. 

The Bonnies now hold a perfect 8-0 record in the conference and a 21-2 record overall. 

The game came down to the final minute,  with the Dukes down six points, 56-50. Jocelyn Floyd shot a 2-pointer and made the foul shot, cutting the Bonnies' lead to three points. 

But Duquesne couldn't convert in the final 30 seconds on a missed jumper from Floyd and a missed 3-point attempt from Orsi Szecsi. The Bonnies put the game away with two more foul shots with six seconds remaining.

Coach Suzie McConnell-Serio wanted guard Alex Gensler to be out on the floor taking the shot as the final seconds ticked down, but Gensler fouled out with 31 seconds to play. Gensler is eight 3-pointers away from the all-time Duquesne women's record. 

"Unfortunately, I didn't have Gensler on the floor in the end of the game, who I would want taking the 3-point shot," McConnell-Serio said.

The Dukes trailed at the end of the first half, 28-23, after 20 minutes of back-and-forth play, including nine lead changes. 

The flip-flop play continued into the second half with four more lead changes. 

McConnell-Serio said the loss ultimately came down to the Dukes' lackluster offense. "They're very patient, and they're deliberate, but we had our chances. We certainly had our chances [off] of missed layups and open looks. They can challenge some things, but we didn't shoot the ball that well," McConnell-Serio said.

Three Dukes scored in double digits: Floyd had 10 points, Wumi Agunbiade had 11, and Gensler had 14.

Agunbiade was pleased with the Dukes' performance throughout the game. 

"We need to continue playing the way we did today. Although we lost, I think we played pretty well throughout the entire game," Agunbiade said. "I think we played with a lot of heart and passion, but unfortunately, we couldn't come out with the win."

Floyd was proud of the team for playing hard for all 40 minutes, something the Dukes have been working on all season.

"I think the first time we played [St. Bonaventure], we only played in spurts. And then on Saturday, we had trouble playing," Floyd said. "So we knew we just had to come out here and play 40 minutes, play hard, and we have to do that throughout the rest of conference [play] and the A-10 [tournament]."

The Dukes are still playing without point guard Vanessa Abel, who is off of crutches but still cannot run with a stress fracture of her patella. 

McConnell-Serio thinks the team is still playing well, despite the absence of Abel.

"Everyone is stepping up, scoring, being a playmaker, defending, rebounding," McConnell-Serio said. "It's a total team effort, and that's the only way we win. We don't win if we have one or two players scoring or one or two players defending. We have to be able to play together, and we need multiple scorers, and we have to be in sync defensively."

The Dukes travel to St. Louis this Sunday for a 3 p.m. game against the Billikens. They will then head to Rhode Island  on Wednesday before a home game Feb. 11 against Charlotte.