PITTSBURGH — Former standout Butler High School point guard Olivia Bresnahan is transferring to Duquesne University.

The 2010 Butler graduate played for Florida State the past two seasons. She is finishing her fall semester there and will enroll at Duquesne in January.

Dukes’ women’s basketball coach Suzie McConnell-Serio offered a scholarship to Bresnahan and the 5-foot-11 junior accepted.

“She’s eligible to practice with us once she’s here,” Coach Serio said. “I recruited her heavily when she was in high school. I haven’t seen her play in two years, so I’m going on what we saw back then.

“Olivia is very talented. Just practicing with us, she will make us better.”

With two years of eligibility remaining, Bresnahan will not be eligible to play at Duquesne until after the fall semester of 2013.

Bresnahan’s final day of classes at Florida State is Dec. 14.

“Basketball just wasn’t clicking for me down here,” she said. “I had to make a decision. Either stay here and try to develop or try another place.

“I talked to (high school) coach (Dorothea) Epps, my coaches here, and decided it’d be best to leave. I never even considered another school besides Duquesne.”

Bresnahan said Serio was the first college coach to offer her a scholarship. That occurred during her sophomore year at Butler.

“The hardest thing I had to do was tell Coach Serio I wouldn’t be going there,” Bresnahan recalled. “Leaving high school, I just wanted to get out of Pennsylvania, go experience something new, a different culture.

“Now I can’t wait to come play for her. She has so many connections in basketball And she’s doing great things with the Duquesne program. I want to be part of it.”

Bresnahan was a two-time PIAA Class AAAA all-state player and scored 1,395 points with the Golden Tornado. She averaged 17.6 points, 11 rebounds and six assists with Butler her senior year, 18.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game as a junior.

Bresnahan played in 30 games, including four starts, for Florida State last season. She averaged 22 minutes per game her sophomore year as the Seminoles finished 14-17.

In 60 games overall at Florida State, Bresnahan averaged 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

Bresnahan described her split with Florida State as extremely positive.

“(Florida State coach) Sue Semrau is more than a great coach, she’s a great person,” she said. “She genuinely cares about her players as people and wants what’s best for them. It’s a family down here and everyone’s supportive because they know this is what’s best for me.”

Serio contacted Bresnahan upon receiving her release from Florida State via e-mail.

“Playing two years in the ACC, Olivia gained valuable experience there,” Serio said. “I’m sure that level of competition has improved her game.”

Serio is entering her sixth season at Duquesne and carries a 99-60 career record there after winning more than 300 games as a high school coach in the WPIAL. The Dukes had never won 20 games in a season before the 2008-09 campaign. Since then, Serio has guided the team to four consecutive 20-win seasons, including a school-record 24-9 mark in 2010-11.

Duquesne was 20-12 last season.

While she plans on being a starter for the Dukes, Bresnahan isn’t taking it for granted.

“No one is going to give it to me and I have no right to expect a starting spot to be handed to me,” Bresnahan said,. “I’m a hard worker and I’ll just keep doing what I do.

“I know what areas of my game need work and I can take a year to hone those skills. I’ll probably go into some kind of depression, not playing for a year, but it will work out in the long run. And it’s cool that my parents will be able to watch me play again.

“I’ve never gotten any kind of championship ring in my life and I definitely want one of those. Get into the tournament, go far, and I want to develop my game well enough to play overseas. I’ve got a lot of work to do,” she added.

Bresnahan plans to change her major from sports management to something in the business field at Duquesne.