PITTSBURGH - Desirae
Ball
scored 11 points to lead Saint Louis in the Billikens' 68-41 Atlantic 10
Conference loss to Duquesne Wednesday night at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
The Billikens slipped to
7-10 overall and 1-1 in the A-10. Duquesne improved to 13-3 overall and 2-0 in
conference play.
Ball was 5-of-9 from the
floor, including a 3-pointer. Lorreal
Jones scored eight points, while Mallory
Eggert and Halee Castleman tied
for game-high honors with five rebounds apiece. Jacy Bradley had a game-high five assists.
Wumi Agunbiade was
10-of-19 from the floor and scored a game-high 23 points for Duquesne, which
shot 50.8 percent from the field. Orsi Szecsi tallied 13 points, and Jocelyn
Floyd had a game-high six steals.
"Duquesne is a very good team," head coach Lisa
Stone said. "I'm impressed with their offensive movement and their
defensive scheme. They have some great players who have the ability to
anticipate and get into passing lanes. They turned us over 21 times. They gave
us the first punch and hit us hard early."
Duquesne scored on seven
of its first eight possessions to build a 16-6 lead, and a 12-0 flurry gave the
Dukes a 30-8 cushion.
Ball buried a 3-pointer
from the right wing to halt the run. She hit a baseline runner and a jumper in
the lane, and Denisha Womack's
three-point play punctuated a 10-3 Saint Louis spurt that narrowed the Duquesne
lead to 33-18 at intermission. The Billikens held Duquesne scoreless on the
Dukes' final eight possessions of the half.
However, Duquesne began
the second half with an 8-2 run to push the advantage to 41-20. Ball grabbed an
offensive rebound and made a layup, but the Dukes scored on their next two
possessions and kept the margin above 20 points the rest of the way.
"The last seven minutes of the first half we held
them in check, so at halftime I actually was very encouraged," Stone said. "I
thought we would respond and come out with a lot more fire in the second half,
but it just didn't happen. They were able to maintain their offensive
continuity. We had moments but not enough moments."
The Billikens return home
to host Saint Joseph's Sunday, Jan. 20. Game time at Chaifetz Arena is 1 p.m.
"The top of the
A-10 is who we're facing right now," Stone said. "It's a tough, daunting
schedule, and we respect everyone we play but fear no one. We have to get back
on track and get ready for a Saint Joseph's team that is very similar to
Duquesne. They're big inside, and we'll have to be a lot better defensively and
not allow them to come in and throw us around so early in the first half."
