Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Duquesne were picked to finish in the top five of the Atlantic 10, the league announced. They also both had players featured in preseason all-conference teams.
The women’s squad was selected fifth in the preseason poll, and junior guard Megan McConnell was named to both the preseason All-Atlantic 10 first team and the 2023-24 preseason All-Atlantic 10 defensive team.
McConnell started in all 31 games last season, averaging 11.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. She led the A-10 in assists while ranking second in rebounding and fourth in steals with an average of 2.3 per game and also rejecting 18 shots. She finished the season with a nod on the All-Atlantic 10 second team.
Coach Dan Burt is in his 11th season with Duquesne and returns all five starters this season. Joining McConnell as a returning starter are guards Tess Myers and Lauren Wasylson, forward Amaya Hamilton and center Ayanna Townsend.
The men’s team was picked to finish fourth with two players being named to All-Atlantic 10 teams.
Senior guard Dae Dae Grant was named to the preseason All-Atlantic 10 first team, while senior guard Jimmy Clark III earned spots on both the preseason All-Atlantic 10 second team and the preseason All-Atlantic 10 defensive team.
Grant led the Dukes in scoring last season, averaging 15.5 points per game, which ranked 11th in the A-10. He reached double-figures in scoring 28 times, including 11 occasions when he surpassed 20 points. He ranked second in 3-point field goals made per game (2.85) and third in free throw percentage (87.3%).
Clark was the second-leading scorer for the Dukes, averaging 12.2 points while also leading the A-10 in steals (76) and steals per game (2.3). The dual-threat guard finished 13th in the nation in steals per contest, while his 76 total steals were tied for 11th.
Women’s soccer accolades
Penn State women’s soccer midfielder Cori Dyke was named Big Ten Defender of the Year. Four other Nittany Lions were also honored in the All-Big Ten awards.
In addition to her recognition as Defender of the Year, Dyke earned Penn State’s only All-Big Ten first team nod. She started in all 17 games, playing 90 minutes on 11 occasions while leading the Nittany Lions to the best goals-against average in the league with a 0.529 mark.
Dyke leads all Penn State outfielders with 1,364 minutes played this season and ranks fourth on the team with 10 points, split between four goals and a pair of assists on the year.
Senior defender Eva Alonso was named to the All-Big Ten second team after her season. She led the team in assists, racking up seven during the year. Goalkeeper Katherine Asman was also named to the second team.
Kaitlyn MacBean and Kate Wiesner earned All-Big Ten third team designations.
West Virginia forward Jordyn Wilson was named to the 2023 All-Big 12 freshman team, as announced by the league last Thursday.
Wilson has played in all 18 matches this season and has earned nine starts, her first coming against Iowa State on Sept. 21. She leads all Mountaineers freshmen with 713 minutes of action this season.
Wilson tallied her first career points against Saint Francis on Aug. 20, scoring her first career goal and assisting another in West Virginia’s record-setting 9-0 victory over the Red Flash. She added her second goal of the year in the Oklahoma game on Oct. 5 before assisting Dilary Heredia-Beltran’s game-winning goal at Kansas on Oct. 15. She finished the season with two goals, three assists and nine shots on goal.
Big Ten regular season champs
The Penn State men’s soccer team earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a 1-1 draw against Wisconsin on Sunday. The Nittany Lions share the title with Indiana and will head into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 2 seed.
This is Penn State’s fifth regular season Big Ten title and second in the last three years.
The Nittany Lions boasted a 9-3-4 record, including 4-2-2 in conference play. Their three losses came against Penn, Indiana and Rutgers. They finished the season atop the Big Ten in goals (1.813 per game), second in goals against (.75 per game) and third in assists (1.375 per game).
Peter Mangione led the league with nine goals in 16 games (.563 per game). He also sat atop the statistical standings in game-winning goals with five.
Penn State plays Rutgers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament on Friday.
Weekly awards
• Pitt women’s volleyball freshman Olivia Babcock has been named ACC Freshman of the Week for the fifth time this season. She is now second in program history for most weekly awards as a freshman behind graduate setter Lexis Akeo, who has eight.
Babcock had yet another impressive weekend, recording eight kills on a career-high .800 hitting percentage against Virginia Tech on Friday night. She also added three blocks, a dig and an assist. She followed that up with 14 kills, hitting .462 with three digs and two blocks against Wake Forest.
• Penn State women’s ice hockey goaltender Josie Bothun was named CHA Goaltender of the Week.
In the two games at Syracuse this past weekend, Bothun tallied a save percentage of .920 and goals-against average of 2.00. She recorded a total of 46 saves, which helped lead the Nittany Lions to a series sweep against the Orange.
On the season, the Wyoming, Minn., native holds a record of 3-6-1 with a .904 save percentage and GAA of 2.61.
First Published: November 1, 2023, 7:39 p.m.
