College women’s basketball: Alter grad part of 23-7 season for Duquesne

Duquesne guard and Alter High School graduate Libby Bazelak (21) trails teammate Kadri-Ann Lass as she guards Dayton’s Jayla Scaife during a Jan. 31 game at the University of Dayton Arena. The host Flyers won 79-70. DAVID JABLONSKI/STAFF

Duquesne guard and Alter High School graduate Libby Bazelak (21) trails teammate Kadri-Ann Lass as she guards Dayton’s Jayla Scaife during a Jan. 31 game at the University of Dayton Arena. The host Flyers won 79-70. DAVID JABLONSKI/STAFF

Miami University’s challenge in the first round of the WNIT should be a significant one.

The Duquesne women’s basketball team will be at Millett Hall on Thursday night, and the Dukes are making their 10th straight postseason appearance.

“A very talented team from the Atlantic 10 Conference,” MU coach Megan Duffy said. “They can score at all five positions. They run a ton of offensive sets. They’re very guard heavy.”

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Duquesne, based in Pittsburgh, is 23-7 under fifth-year coach Dan Burt. The Dukes are scoring 70.4 points and giving up an average of 63.4 per game.

The A-10 runner-up behind Dayton, Duquesne is led by the junior guard tandem of Chassidy Omogrosso and Julijana Vojinovic, who are scoring 16.8 and 15.9 points per contest, respectively.

Junior Kadri-Ann Lass, a 6-foot-3 forward, is averaging 11.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.

“I think they’re more skilled than anything,” Duffy said. “They do have a little bit of size, but their size shoots from the perimeter.”

A couple notes:

» The Dukes have participated in 14 WNIT games since 2009, going 6-8.

» Duquesne and Miami have three common opponents this year. The Dukes beat Akron (66-60), Central Michigan (64-61) and Toledo (73-54) … the RedHawks swept Akron (75-67 and 77-50), lost twice to CMU (84-66 and 61-58), and defeated Toledo (67-58).

» Seven countries — the United States, Hungary, Canada, Serbia, Finland, Estonia and Spain — are represented on Duquesne’s roster.

» Freshman guard Libby Bazelak, an Alter High School product, has played in 30 games and started four for Duquesne, averaging 3.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. She has some solid shooting percentages — 50 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from 3-point range and 93 percent from the line.

» The Dukes have one other Ohio player. Redshirt sophomore forward Paige Cannon from Johnstown is a starter averaging 5.7 points and 5.7 boards per game.

Duquesne’s Kadri-Ann Lass (42) guards Dayton’s Alex Harris during a game at the University of Dayton Arena on Jan. 31. The visiting Dukes lost 79-70. DAVID JABLONSKI/STAFF

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Duquesne’s Paige Cannon (10) goes after a shot by Dayton’s Jayla Scaife on Jan. 31 during a 79-79 victory for the host Flyers at the University of Dayton Arena. DAVID JABLONSKI/STAFF

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