Dukes pull away in fourth quarter to win.Monster game by April Robinson

godukes1970 wrote:

Dukes looked damn tough, especially in the 4th Q.  April Robinson played all 40 minutes; and as tired as she was, managed to hit three 3-pointers in a row (between 2:33 to 1:14 to go in the game) giving the Dukes an 11 pt. lead and deflating any chances for the Lobos possible come-back. The Dukes go 5-1 on the season and prove that they can win on a very tough court in the tournament host's big-time arena, 78-69.  

I was only able to watch about 1/2 of the 3rd Q and all of the 4th Q on the streaming video broadcast.  Besides being noticeably biased in their account of the game, they failed to provide significant stats regarding individual players as the game wore on.  I believe the TV announcers only mentioned the amount of points scored by April when she got into the high twenties, and I don't remember hearing key performance stats for either teams' players.  They apparently didn't make an effort to learn how to pronounce Amadea and Emile's last names prior to the broadcast.  I'd rate them about a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10.  I also thought it was a bit bush league for the Lobos' head coach, Yvonne Sanchez, to complain enough to get two technical fouls within a few minutes of each other in the 4th Q, meriting ejection from the game.  However, in her post-game interview she did give lots of praise to April and the entire Duquesne team, saying that they were a very good team. 

I note that the Dukes played only seven players.  Conner Richardson was dressed in street clothes.  Congratulations to the team and and Coach Dan Burt and his fine staff for winning this tournament.  That's two mid-season tournament wins in successive seasons.  I think the team has earned at least a full day of rest after the long flight back to the Burgh.

Sagarin ranked the Dukes at #115 prior to the win over New Mexico. My guess is that they could move up several notches and perhaps enter the top 100 when the new rating comes out Sunday morning.

All-Tournament Team
MVP – April Robinson (Duquesne)
Emilie Gronas (Duquesne)
Amadea Szamosi (Duquesne)
Khadijah Shumpert (New Mexico)
Ashleigh Munns (Southern Utah)
Aprill Mcrae (North Carolina A&T)

Sagarin's ranking on Sunday morning put the Dukes at #99. Their next away opponent, Central Michigan, is ranked # 72. Using Sagarin''s predictor scores, the Dukes are 7 pt. underdogs; however, using Sagarin's Recent forecast tool (is score-based & weights Recent play more heavily than earlier games), the Dukes and the Chippewas are even.
 

Last edited by godukes1970 (12/01/2015 11:17 am)

I believe Paige Cannon.  Out indefinitely.