PITTSBURGH – April Robinson and Belma Nurkic combined for 29 points and head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio recorded her 100th career win as the Duquesne women’s basketball team defeated Liberty 63-46 in the first round of the Preseason WNIT. The Dukes will advance to play at North Carolina on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
Nurkic had a team-high 15 points and Robinson added 14. Orsi Szecsi recorded seven rebounds and Jocelyn Floyd had a game-high seven steals.
Liberty’s Devon Brown had a game-high 19 points.
The Dukes, who led from beginning-to-end, took an early 10-4 lead after forcing four Flames turnovers in its first five possessions. A foul shot by Robinson gave DU its first double-digit lead of the game at 27-17 with 5:21 remaining until halftime. Nurkic would follow with an impressive left handed layup off a fast break. Duquesne’s lead would get as high as 14 points before LU trimmed the deficit to 10 points, 32-22 at halftime.
By the midway point of the second half, the Dukes’ lead would reach 20 points at 54-34. DU would lead by as many as 22 points twice – on Wumi Agunbiade’s jumper with 5:04 to play and on a Floyd jumper with 3:17 left.
Brown’s jumper closed out the scoring as time expired.
As a team, the Dukes shot 39.7 percent (19-of-64), but held Liberty to just 34.8 percent (16-of-46). The Flames, who led the NCAA in rebounding last season, held a 45-35 edge on the boards. Duquesne had 35 steals and 36 points off of turnovers.
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