By Natalie Fiorilli | The Duquesne Duke
No lead is safe in the Atlantic 10 Tournament—and Fordham proved that in the quarterfinal Friday night against the Duquesne women’s basketball team.
Despite a powerful first half performance by the Dukes, and a margin as large as 13 points in the third quarter, Fordham would gain its first lead of the night with only three minutes remaining in the game. Ultimately, the Dukes would secure a 75-70 victory over the Rams, as the Red & Blue advance to the semifinal of the A-10 Tournament.
“That’s March, we’re into March, and I expected nothing less out of that game,” coach Dan Burt said. “We’ll enjoy the victory, and then we have to get ourselves ready for tomorrow.”
Senior guards April Robinson and Deva’Nyar Workman each recorded double-doubles, with Workman racking up 20 points and 17 rebounds, and Robinson tallying 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Kadri-Ann Lass finished the night with 16 points.
“Just because we’re up doesn’t mean we can slack off,” Workman said in regard to her relentless effort against Fordham. “We’ve got to just keep pushing and pushing.”
Duquesne jumped on a 9-0 run to start the game, outscoring Fordham 18-8 in the first quarter and holding the Rams to 20 percent from the field. Fordham would answer, scoring seven unanswered points in the second quarter and bringing the game within one point at 18-17 with 7:13 to go in the first half. A 7-0 run would leave the Rams trailing, 31-22, going into halftime.
The Rams brought the game within one point with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter, and the Dukes would enter the fourth quarter up 51-50. Within the first minute of the fourth quarter, Fordham found its first advantage of the game at 53-51. The Dukes would manage to shoot 5-5 from the free throw line in the final minute, securing a five-point victory.
The Dukes will face the second-seeded Saint Louis Billikens at the Richmond Coliseum tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
“It’s surreal,” Robinson said. “We try to enjoy every single moment. For seniors, we have forty minutes left, it’s do or die and I know we’re just really excited to get out there tomorrow and take on a great basketball team.”
