When Dan Burt told his players they would play the entire season away from Duquesne’s campus during renovations to Cooper Fieldhouse, he instituted a rule.
“There would be no complaints, only solutions,” the Dukes’ women’s coach said.
He found a couple through a difficult season.
So, he was pleased while walking away from PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday night with a 72-62 victory against Rhode Island. The victory was Burt’s 150th in seven seasons and pushed Duquesne (17-9, 7-6) into sixth place in the Atlantic 10. Duquesne has the second-most overall victories (tied with Fordham) among Atlantic 10 teams.
The game also represented a first for Burt.
“It was the first time I yelled at them this season,” he said.
Playing in a nearly empty arena, the Dukes fell behind 42-31 at the outset of the third quarter.
“The emptiness and the size of the arena affected us,” he said.
At halftime, he expressed his displeasure with his players’ lack of energy, and they responded by holding Rhode Island (13-12, 6-7) to one field goal in the third quarter. Duquesne outscored the Rams, 41-22, after halftime.
“We had to create our own energy,” Burt said.
Junior point guard Libby Bazelak led the Dukes with 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Almost as impressively, she played all 40 minutes without committing a foul.
“We all realized we didn’t play a good first half,” said senior forward Paige Cannon, who scored 15 points. “We don’t ask for anything from our team, except to play with energy and effort.”
Burt said many of his players are in unaccustomed roles after the team lost several graduates who combined for more than 5,000 points in their careers. Plus, valuable contributors Halle Bovell and Anie-Pier Samson have missed most of the season with ACL injuries.
Circumstances forced freshmen Amaya Hamilton and Precious Johnson to step into important roles, and they responded against Rhode Island.
Johnson, 6-foot-4, scored 12 points and blocked four shots in 12 minutes. Hamilton scored eight points with two rebounds, two assists and one turnover in 30 minutes.
