RICHMOND, Va. — The result was everything the Duquesne women’s basketball team hoped for and expected heading into the game.
The details, though, of the Dukes’ 70-65 victory against Fordham in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals, were more reflective of how this month tends to take the sport off its hinges just a bit.
“That’s March,” Duquesne coach Dan Burt said after the game. “We’re into March, and I expected nothing less out of that game.”
The third-seeded Dukes (26-4) withstood a furious second-half rally from the upset-minded Rams. A Deva’Nyar Workman layup with 29.3 seconds left put Duquesne ahead, 65-61, and five consecutive successful free throws in the closing seconds sealed the win.
Workman led the Dukes with 20 points and 17 rebounds and point guard April Robinson also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds..
“At the end of the day, these two here on the stage, April Robinson and Dev Workman willed us to another victory,” Burt said with Robinson and Workman seated next to him in the postgame news conference.
Burt admitted that he probably didn’t get his starters as much rest as he would have liked in advance of the semifinal today against Saint Louis (1:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network), but the Dukes needed every minute they could out of Workman (who played all 40) and Robinson (who played 39) Friday night.
Duquesne led, 31-22, at halftime after a hot-shooting start propelled them to an 18-8 first-quarter edge.
The Dukes extended that lead to 35-22 early in the third quarter and looked to be pulling away from the sixth-seeded Rams, who were coming off an overtime win Thursday against Massachusetts..
Fordham hit seven of its next 10 shots — including three consecutive 3s from Hannah Missry — to cut the lead to one.
“I thought they were outside the Richmond Coliseum when they made some of those shots,” he said.
Burt made some adjustments, including going to a slightly smaller lineup in the second half, but mostly he just praised his team’s mental resolve when the Rams made shots from seemingly everywhere.
Fordham pulled ahead, 53-51, just 34 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Robinson said she sensed no alarm from teammates.
“You’re going to run into walls, but you have to fight adversity,” Robinson said. “We’re a team, we’re never going to let down no matter how many points we’re down.”
The teams traded punches throughout the fourth quarter, with neither holding more than a four-point lead until the final buzzer.
When that horn sounded, it effectively clinched the Dukes’ first NCAA tournament bid. Nothing will be certain until the field is revealed March 14, but ESPN analyst Charlie Creme had the Dukes as a “lock” heading into the weekend, and now it would be impossible for them to pick up any sort of bad loss that could knock them out of the field.
Still, Burt only wanted to look ahead to the game against Saint Louis.
Usually, he lets his team enjoy wins until midnight before the focus turns to the next opponent. That rule was slightly amended Friday night.
“We’ll enjoy it until we get back to the [hotel] and then we’ve got to get ourselves ready for tomorrow,” he said.
When Robinson was asked her thoughts on the matchup with the Billikens, the first word out of her mouth was “rematch.” Saint Louis beat the Dukes, 84-81, in a hard-fought game Feb. 18 at Saint Louis that, ultimately, ended up costing Duquesne the outright A-10 regular-season championship.
If the Dukes avenge that loss, they will face either George Washington or VCU — who will play today in the first semifinal — Sunday in the championship. The Colonials beat George Mason, 78-48, and the Rams defeated St. Bonaventure, 59-50, earlier Friday in the other quarterfinal matchups. First, though, the Billikens.
“It’s a rematch,” Robinson said. “We’re all looking forward to showing them what Duquesne’s all about.”
Sam Werner: swerner@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SWernerPG.
First Published: March 5, 2016, 2:43 a.m.
Updated: March 5, 2016, 5:30 a.m.
