Saúl Berríos-Thomas | Layout Editor
The Duquesne women’s basketball team dominated Buffalo from start to finish Wednesday morning. The Dukes (3-2) won 78-55 over the Buffalo Bulls (2-2).
Duquesne coach Dan Burt was impressed with the way his team played.
“[I was] very pleased with the defense. We held them to 55 points,” he said.
A steal and full court drive from senior forward Orsi Szecsi led to the Dukes first points at 18:41. After a quick five points from Buffalo’s sophomore guard Mackenzie Loesing, the Bulls didn’t get another point until the 13:56 mark when junior forward Christa Baccas’ rebound and layup made it 15-7 Duquesne. That would be the pattern for the rest of the game: the Dukes scored while Buffalo missed.
Buffalo kept it close throughout the first half. In the second half the Dukes came out and got the first two baskets from senior forward Wumi Agunbiade and Szecsi to push the lead to 41-23.
They implemented a full court press, which stifled the Buffalo offense.
The Dukes went 9 of 24 for 37.5 percent from three and caused 21 turnovers. They were outrebounded 43-35 and only had 11 offensive rebounds.
Leading the way for the Dukes was senior guard Raegan Moore who had 25 points on 9 of 14 shooting, going 5-9 from beyond the arc. She also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Moore a senior spent most of her first three years at Duquesne coming off the bench. She is adjusting well to her new role under Burt.
“It’s been a big adjustment for me which people probably don’t realize. Since I hadn’t played a lot of minutes in the last three years, but I think that I am starting to get used to the fact that I do have to contribute this year and my team relies on me in some situations,” Moore said.
Burt agreed.
“I am very pleased to see that Raegan Moore got back on the horse after feeling under the weather against Green Bay. She had another terrific night tonight,” Burt said.
Szecsi also came up big for the Dukes with 11 points on 5 of 12 from the field. She also had 2 steals and five rebounds.
Szecsi stressed that there is still room to improve before conference play.
“I think we need drivers because we are shooting a lot outside. I think that is going to be one of our biggest adjustments [heading into Atlantic 10 play],” she said.
A key contributor off the bench for the Dukes was junior guard Belma Nurkic. Nurkic had 14 points on 6-12 from the field. She was also helpful for Burt because she ate up a lot of minutes allowing him to cycle in and out his other guards. She finished with 27 minutes.
Nurkic talked abut coming off the bench and contributing.
“I just try to get going somehow even if it’s a defensive stop or even getting a shot up on offense. I just kind of go in there with the mindset of I am going to hit the shot I get,” Nurkic said.
Senior guard Wumi Agunbiade had nine points, eight rebounds and four steals while sophomore point guard April Robinson added seven points and five assists.
Robinson is the only healthy true point guard on the roster and has had to play a lot more for the Dukes and this game was no different she had 35 minutes.
“[Robinson] is a captain for us. Nothing phases her. She is cool as a cucumber,” Burt said.
The Dukes head to Morehead State for their next contest Sunday at 2 p.m.
<3 WO Show