George Mason and Saint Joseph’s continued to roll on the opening day of conference play while Duquesne and VCU lost close ones. Here’s a look at some of the key matchups outside of Amherst:
Davidson vs. Duquesne (12/29):
Davidson took care of business on the road, beating the Duquesne Dukes 76-70. The Davidson Wildcats’ effort was led by a double-double from Charlise Dunn and a 25-point performance from Katie Donovan on 10-of-15 shooting.
Picking up after the first quarter with a score of 20-20, Davidson found its bounce with a 7-2 run led by Dunn and others. She then hit a triple to take a commanding 40-31 lead for the Wildcats heading into the intermission.
After the Dukes shot well in the first quarter, Davidson picked up the pressure, forcing Duquesne to shoot 31 percent over the next two quarters. The Wildcats led by double digits heading into the last period.
As the stars for Davidson got tired, Candice Lienafa provided the bench spark the Wildcats needed with 12 points and six rebounds, with her biggest contributions coming in the dying embers. Despite Megan McConnell and Jerni Kiaku’s 20-point performances for Duquesne, Davidson pulled off a close victory.
Duquesne’s winning streak finally ended at seven wins. The Dukes also suffered their first home defeat of the season. Davidson, however, after a weak start to the season, improved to 6-7 overall while starting 1-0 in A-10 play.
Davidson will face La Salle at home on Thursday to kick off the new year, while Duquesne heads to Richmond to take on VCU.
VCU vs. Saint Joseph’s (12/29):
The Saint Joseph’s Hawks took care of business at home, 70-62 over the VCU Rams. Saint Joseph’s improved to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play as it continues to dominate teams through the stardom of players like Laura Ziegler.
In her junior year out of Denmark, she became just the 31st player in Hawk history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. She needed just 74 games to hit that mark, becoming the fourth-quickest player to do it in program history.
The Rams weren’t in town to make that easy though. Ziegler scored a basket on the first possession to achieve this milestone and then it was business from then on. The first 20 minutes of the contest were filled with ties and lead changes. The away-from-home VCU Rams took the lead up three going into the half.
After a half time pep-talk from Saint Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin, the Hawks began the second half with a 16-5 run, giving them an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Rams showed resilience once again though with an 8-0 run, which was powered by VCU’s Valentina Ojeda, who had 21 points on the afternoon. They took their first lead in 14 minutes. Through multiple baskets late in the fourth quarter, the Hawks never looked back and won a big first conference game on Hawk Hill. Ziegler’s 18-point effort was accompanied by Mackenzie Smith’s 25 and eight.
Saint Joseph’s run-in doesn’t get much easier, as they kick off the new year Thursday on the road against an 11-1 George Mason team that is undefeated at home. VCU will meet Duquesne at home that same day with a chance to grab its first conference victory.
Other Notable Results:
Richmond made easy work of Dayton, 55-37, through Addie Budnik’s 14 points.
Rhode Island took care of Saint Louis, 83-63, as they inched closer to the .500 mark.
George Washington beat La Salle 65-54, led by a double-double from Paige Mott on 9-of-11 shooting.
Loyola Chicago rambled on with a 57-40 victory over St. Bonaventure to improve to 9-4.
Standings Update:
George Mason and Saint Joseph’s both made it five in a row, standing atop of the A-10 conference standings, while St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis continued their shocking seasons, sitting in the bottom two. The biggest two risers of the week were George Washington and Loyola Chicago after both extended its respective winning streaks by winning their conference openers against La Salle and St. Bonaventure, respectively.
Zeke Altman can be reached at [email protected].
