KENT, Ohio – Despite a career-high 31 points from Fatou Pouye (Kaolack, Senegal/Glasgow Christian), the Duquesne women's basketball team was defeated 71-66 by Kent State Wednesday night at the M.A.C. Center in a non-conference tilt.
 
Pouye was 9-of-16 (56 percent) from the field and 10 of 14 at the free-throw line. She drew 11 fouls and added three assists and three rebounds to her final line. Tess Myers (Lower Burrell, Pa./North Catholic) finished with 14 points. Myers knocked down 4-of-6 from long range and chipped in four rebounds in the loss.
 
After trailing early, the Dukes (4-6) took their first lead of the evening on a layup by Precious Johnson (Helsinborg, Sweden/Marks Gymnasieskola) that made the score 7-5 with 4:34 to play in the opening quarter. Both teams traded baskets down the stretch and Kent State (7-1) managed to cling to a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The Golden Flashes got off to a fast start in the second quarter with consecutive treys to put the Dukes in a 23-17 hole two minutes into the period. Duquesne sliced the deficit down to one, 25-24, with a 7-2 spurt, capped off by a Pouye triple, at the four-minute mark of the quarter. Kent State answered with a 9-3 run of its own to close out the half and carry a 34-27 lead into the break.
 
Myers knocked down a three-point shot to open the second half and cut the deficit to 34-30, but Kent State responded with a 9-2 run to open up a 45-32 advantage with 4:40 to play in the third quarter. The Golden Flashes maintained the double-digit lead until the Dukes scored the final four points of the quarter, all by Pouye, to trim the deficit to 52-43 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Dukes brought the Kent State lead all the way down to 58-57 on consecutive buckets by Myers and Pouye at the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The contest remained a one-possession game until Kent State's Lindesy Thall knocked down a three pointer to make the Dukes' hole 68-63. Another Myers triple with 36 seconds to play in the game got the deficit back down to 68-66, but Duquesne was unable to get any closer.
 
Both teams shot over 40 percent from the field, while Kent State held a slight 32-to-30 edge on the glass. Duquesne turned the ball over 13 times, compared to nine by Kent State, and was out-scored 14-3 in points from turnovers.

It was Pouye's first-career 30-point game. Her previous career-high was a 25-point outburst at Longwood in Novemeber.
 
Laia Sole (Igualada, Spain/INS Joaquim) finished with six points, and in the process, reached 1,000 points for her career. Sole has scored 684 points as a member of the Dukes over the past four seasons. She recorded 318 points her freshman season in 2016-17 at Maine.
 
A trio of Golden Flashes scored in double figures, led by a 21-point performance by Katie Shumate.
 
The Dukes return home for a three-game homestand to close out the calendar year. Duquesne will take the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse floor on Saturday, Dec. 11 around 5 p.m. for a non-conference bout with Saint Francis U. The game will be preceded by the Duquesne men's team's 1 p.m. game versus New Hampshire. Tickets to the men's game will be honored for the women's game.