DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Duquesne women's basketball team rallied late, but came up short in a 73-67 setback at Davidson Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic 10 game at Belk Arena.
 
Tess Myers (Lower Burrell, Pa./North Catholic) matched a career-high with 23 points. She shot 7-of-16 from the field, including 6-of-11 from long range. Precious Johnson (Helsinborg, Sweden/Marks) finished with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Fatou Pouye (Kaolack, Senegal/Glasgow Christian) chipped in 11 points, while Libby Bazelak (Kettering, Ohio/Bishop Alter) finished with a line of eight points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
 
The Dukes (6-10, 1-3 A-10) trailed 6-5 midway through the first quarter when they went on a 10-4 run, including threes by both Myers and Johnson, to take a 15-9 lead with 1:06 to play in the opening period.
 
Davidson (11-3, 2-0 A-10) responded with 10-straight points to put the Dukes in a 19-15 hole two minutes into the second quarter. Duquesne ended the drought and reclaimed the lead at 20-19 on a Myers trey at the 6:38-mark of the second quarter.
 
The two teams traded the lead three more times down the stretch, including when Myers knocked down consecutive three pointers near the two-minute mark, before the Dukes eventually headed into halftime ahead 37-35.
 
Duquesne got off to a hot start in the second half with a 7-1 run to extend the lead to 44-36 and force a Wildcat timeout. Davidson responded with 12-straight points, including a pair of threes, to put the Dukes in a 48-44 hole with 3:36 to play in the third quarter. Duquesne managed to even the score at 48 near the two-minute mark, but Davidson closed the period on a 7-2 run to enter the fourth quarter ahead 55-50.
 
Davidson took its largest lead of the day at 66-54 with 5:43 to play in the game. The Dukes battled back with 10-straight points to pull back within two, 66-64, before a Megan McConnell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) trey with 44 seconds left on the clock made the score 68-67.
 
The Wildcats answered with a three of their own on the ensuing possession and knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the Dukes' fate.
 
Duquesne shot 27 of 58 (47 percent) as a team, compared to the 24 of 60 (40 percent) posted by Davidson. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Dukes 38 to 30.
 
Duquesne finished with a season-high 19 assists.
 
There were 10 lead changes and five tie scores in the contest.

Myers scored 18 of her 23 points in the first half after shooting 6-of-8 from beyond-the-arc in the first 20 minutes. Davidson flowed towards her defensively in the second half and did not allow her to convert any three-point shots over the final 20 minutes of the game.
 
Suzi-Rose Deegan led the Wildcats with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting. She was 5-of-8 from three-point range.
 
The Dukes return home to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 19 to host Rhode Island for an A-10 contest. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ESPN+.