ORLANDO, Fla. – The Duquesne women's basketball team was handed a 68-39 loss at UCF in its season-opening game Tuesday evening at Addition Financial Arena.
 
The Dukes (0-1) were led by a game-high 16 points from Tess Myers (Lower Burrell, Pa./North Catholic). Myers knocked down four treys and also hauled in six rebounds. Megan McConnell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) chipped in a balanced line with four points, six rebounds and five assists in the loss.
 
Fatou Pouye (Kaolack, Senegal/Glasgow Christian) scored the game's first points to put the Dukes out in front in the opening minute. After the lead switched hands, a pair of long range shots by Myers pulled the Dukes back in front at 10-7 with 4:31 left in the first quarter. Duquesne led 14-11 on a McConnell steal and lay up, before a UCF triple in the final 20 seconds of the period tied the game up at the first break.
 
Myers dropped another trey on the first possession of the second quarter to make the score 17-14, but the Knights responded with a 10-2 run to put the Dukes in a 24-19 hole with 2:38 to play in the first half. Precious Johnson (Helsinborg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola) ended the run when she knocked down her second-career three-point shot to close the gap back down to 24-22 heading into halftime.
 
Johnson tied the game up at 24-24 on the opening possession of the second half, but UCF countered with a 17-3 run that made the score 41-27 with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter. The Knights applied full-court pressure off of their made baskets and forced the Dukes into six turnovers during the run.
 
Duquesne headed into the fourth quarter trailing 42-31 and was not able to close the gap. UCF out-scored the Dukes 26-8 in the final stanza to deal the Dukes the loss.
 
The Dukes finished the game shooting 15 of 52 (29 percent) and 5-of-26 (19 percent) from long range. UCF converted 25 of 66 (38 percent) and 8-of-25 (32 percent) from deep.
 
UCF forced 23 turnovers and converted 21 points off of those takeaways. The Knights also held a 45 to 33 edge on the glass.
 
Diamond Battles and Ahna Burney paced UCF with 16 points, apiece. Battles scored 11 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.
 
The Dukes will look to rebound on Thursday, Nov. 11 when they visit Tulsa (0-0) for another non-conference contest. The opening tip is set for 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. CT) and will broadcast on ESPN+.