Slow Start Sinks Duquesne Women in 2018-19 Opener

The start to the 2018-19 season was not what the Duquesne Dukes were looking for.

Facing a quality opponent on the road in the TCU, the Dukes started an ice-cold 0-for-9 from the floor and conceded a 10-point lead to the Horned Frogs that they were never able to recover from and lost, 61-48, Tuesday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas.

Courtesy of Duquesne athletics

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Before they made their first basket, the Dukes had turned the ball over four times and had committed five fouls as part of a choppy, sloppy first quarter.

Even after their 0-for-9 start, the Dukes shot 17 of 47 (36 percent) the rest of the way for a total of 17 of 56 from the floor for a 30.4 shooting percentage.

Starting guards Chassidy Omogrosso, Connor Richardson and Libby Bazelak combined to hit just 2 of 17 attempts.

With this 👇 @ChasOmogrosso2 moves into sole possession of 11th place on Duquesne’s all-time scoring list with 1,314 points. #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/oRab1iSGuC

— Duquesne Women's Basketball (@DuqWBB) November 6, 2018

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Chipping away, Dukes got back-to-back 3⃣pointers from Juca and Nina. #GoDukes pic.twitter.com/Z23koV0969

— Duquesne Women's Basketball (@DuqWBB) November 6, 2018

Still, Duquesne remained in the game, going on a late third-quarter run to close to the deficit to eight points entering the final frame.

In the end, it was an inability to find a defensive answer for TCU center Jordan Moore that kept the Dukes from getting any closer. Moore had 12 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Nina Aho led the Dukes with 10 points coming off the bench, shooting 5 of 7 and 2 of 5 from 3-point range. Laia Sole had nine points.

The Dukes will continue their two-game, season-opening road trip on Thursday, when they visit Texas. That game will tip off at 8 p.m.