Know Your Foe-ette: Duquesne Dukes
By: Dallas Bowlin
Senior Staff Writer/Editor/Host
All Vol Call In Show
Things get real for the Lady Vols as they begin the season on Monday, November 2nd, as they host the Duquesne Dukes following a 132-63 drubbing of Florida A&M in the team's lone exhibition matchup.
This will be the first matchup between Tennessee and Duquesne in Lady Vol Basketball history.
The Dukes are coached by Dan Burt, who is entering his 14th season at the helm and is already the winningest coach in program history with 242 wins. However, they are coming off a season where they went 12-19 overall and 4-14 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
RETURNEES:
G/F Dunja Zecevic: 2.9 PPG, 1.7 REBS, 44.6% FG
G Gabby Grantham-Medley: 7.3 PPG, 3.9 REBS, 2.0 AST, 33.5% FG, 33% 3PT FG
G Kellie McConnell: 0.5 PPG, 0.9 REBS, 0.6 AST, 41.7% FG
G Nadia Moore: 12.8 PPG, 3.0 REBS, 0.7 AST, 44.3% FG, 18% 3PT FG
F Raevin Washington: 5.1 PPG, 4.3 REBS, 0.6 AST, 47.3% FG
LOSSES:
C Harriet Ford (Transferred to Richmond): 6.6 PPG, 6.9 REBS, 1.0 AST, 46.2% FG
G Faith Walker (Transferred to Ball State): 2.5 PPG, 2.7 REBS, 1.2 AST, 30.3% FG
G Fatou Sane (Transferred to Cleveland State): 3.1 PPG, 2.9 REBS, 0.7 AST, 34.3% FG
G Reina Green (Transferred to St. John’s): 7.8 PPG, 5.2 REBS, 1.5 AST, 36.6% FG, 33.8% 3PT
G Mackenzie Blackford (Transferred to Robert Morris): 10.6 PPG, 2.8 REBS, 35.1% FG
G Alexis Bordas (Transferred to West Virginia): 15.5 PPG, 3.1 REBS, 1.6 AST, 35.7% FG
NEWCOMERS:
Freshman | G Ayala Oren (Israel National Team): 10.6 PPG, 5.6 REBS, 4.7 AST, 44.4% FG
Junior | G De’Naya Rippey (Saint Peter’s Transfer): 13.4 PPG, 8.0 REBS, 1.6 AST, 37.8% FG
Freshman | G Amaya Robinson: 46.0% 3PT FG shooter in 2025-2026
Senior | G Carla Viegas (Pittsburgh Transfer): 8.6 PPG, 1.8 REBS, 36.4% FG, 36.8% 3PT
Freshman | C Dieymarie Diouf: 6’6”, No Verifiable Stats
Freshman | G Dalma Grets (Hungarian A Division): 3.3 PPG, 5.3
REBS, 2.3 AST
TEAM SUMMARY:
As mentioned earlier, Duquesne had a tough go of things last season, finishing below .500 overall and in the A-10.
The Dukes finished 236th overall on Barttorvik, with an Adjusted Offensive Efficiency of 85.2 (269th) and an Adjusted Defensive Efficiency of 92.5 (175th). Their three-point percentage finished at 31.9% (124th), with a rate of 37.3 (106th), while their two-point percentage finished at 40.0% (322nd).
This revamped Duquesne roster came with an emphasis on finding production over potential, per Head Coach Dan Burt:
“Last year, I had chosen potential over true production,” Burt explained. “I charged our staff with finding production over potential when we went into the portal (this year), and we did that. The team revamped with six players leaving, and with this group of 13, we have proven production at multiple positions. We have really aggressive, physical, tough guard play, and we have two outstanding point guards that are going to make us a lot better.” — Quote via Atlantic10.com
Burt said that he believes the returning Nadia Moore was the Dukes' best player before going down with an injury very early in the season, noting her relentlessness defensively and on the offensive glass.
The staff purposefully went out seeking size, and they found just that, making Duquesne the tallest team in the A-10. 6’6” center Dieymarie Diouf and 6’4” guard Bakhaw Seye are both of Senegalese descent, and 6’5” forward Raevin Washington returns after blocking 50 shots last season.
“We have the tallest team in the Atlantic 10, one of the tallest teams in America,” advertised Burt. “We’re healthy, and let’s be frank, when we were picked 12th, I dwelled on that for about two minutes and sent a note to our players and staff. No one really knows who we are and what we are.” — Quote via Atlantic10.com
OFFENSE:
Much like Coach Kim Caldwell, Burt emphasizes a high-octane, chaotic, and fast-paced offense in transition. Their offense is structured to thrive off forced turnovers by the defense and instinctive player freedom.
The offense relies on early triggers, including deep inbound passes and hard cutting to push the ball down the court as quickly as possible following makes and misses.
Much like Caldwell, Burt employs “five-in, five-out” substitutions, swapping units every couple of minutes.
While Burt isn’t opposed to his team shooting a lot of three-pointers, his goal in the half-court is to attack the paint. If they don’t get a look early via deep inbounds and pushing the ball, the ball starts to go side to side, looking to feed the mid and high post.
Once the ball gets in the post, off-ball players are tasked with cutting hard through the lane to exploit help defenders.
In practice, Burt is known to implement “no-dribble” rules to enforce fundamental passing, communication, and sharp cutting.
Because his offensive philosophy draws a lot of early looks, Burt coaches his team to play aggressively on the offensive glass in an attempt to generate second-chance opportunities. The Dukes ranked 42nd nationally last season in offensive rebounding.
You don’t need many clips to know what you’re up against. It’s not really structured sets. However, here is a glimpse of those aforementioned deep inbound passes.
DEFENSE:
Burt is very similar to Kim Caldwell in a lot of ways, and defense is another one. His teams employ full-court pressure to dictate tempo, disrupt opposing game plans, and force turnovers.
Coach Burt heavily values perimeter defense, cutting off passing lanes, deflecting passes, and just harassing ball handlers.
Interior defenders have it drilled into their minds to block nearly every shot instead of just “standing their ground.”
While full-court pressure is the calling card, Burt will ease off and change his scheme drastically. He can switch into zone coverages and change his half-court schemes to attempt to stop easy baskets out of a broken press.
It really comes down to personnel. If they have the depth to go all out with their full-court press, they will. If not, they adjust.
HOW THE LADY VOLS CAN WIN:
I am very curious to see how Coach Caldwell schemes for this one. With Duquesne’s deep inbound passes, they could implement that strategy to get easy baskets against the Tennessee press. But that also opens the door for defenders to rush to the ball and “pick it off,” much like a secondary player in football. While those long passes CAN break a press, they can also lead to trouble.
Communication. That will be key while Tennessee implements its press. A breakdown could lead to long outlet passes ending in an easy bucket. Players will have to communicate their assignments.
Own the glass. Don’t give Duquesne second-chance looks. With their length, that could be a tall (no pun intended) task, so you may have to team rebound and ask your guards to do their work early, boxing out as well and maybe giving your bigs a hand.
HOW DUQUESNE CAN WIN:
The Dukes will pretty much have to play a perfect game to win this. They’re going up against a team that runs a very similar system, and those players are, with all due respect, much better athletes.
Play a clean game. Duquesne cannot start turning the ball over, especially early. Turnovers fuel the Caldwell offense, and much like a three-point shooter, one turnover can cause a defense to get “hot,” forcing multiple turnovers and leading to an avalanche. One minute, you're down four or five. Give up a few turnovers, then you look up, and you're down 15–20.
Win the offensive glass. Against Florida A&M, the Lady Vols took 48 more shots than the Rattlers. If the same or nearly the same thing happens on Monday, the Dukes will be in big trouble.
Turn over the Lady Vols. Same as the last point. If you force turnovers, that’s fewer opportunities you give Tennessee to score (duh).
PREDICTION:
This ultimately comes down to my earlier point. Tennessee has the better athletes. But if Duquesne can neutralize that by forcing mental errors, things could get dicey. Ultimately, this Tennessee team seems like a very tight-knit bunch, and the coaching staff seems to really like them. Those teams normally don’t commit many mental errors, and if they do, they bounce back quickly.
Give me the Lady Vols to overwhelm the Dukes.
Tennessee - 110 | Duquesne - 74
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