Every team is entitled to a bad day at the office. But when it comes against a very good team, the result is usually a blow out. Such was the case Wednesday night at the Palumbo Center when the Duquesne women's basketball team played host to Dayton.

The Dukes (14-6, 4-1 Atlantic 10) shot a woeful 30 percent from the field (20 for 66), made only 9 of 18 free-throw attempts (50 percent) and fell completely apart defensively, enabling the Flyers (16-4, 4-1) to run away with an impressive 75-53 win.

"They jumped on us in the second half and we never recovered and then we got deflated," said Duquesne coach Suzie McConnell-Serio. "We just couldn't hit shot after shot. We were getting looks, but against an excellent team you need to make some of those. Our goal was to have a shot down the stretch, but we never gave ourselves a chance -- we couldn't close the gap because we couldn't get any stops.

"That team finds so many ways to pick you apart. They do a great job of penetrating, and when you help [defensively], they exploit you and they can score in multiple ways."

The game started the way the Dukes wanted it to as they slowed the pace to their liking and led, 10-9, with less than 12 minutes to play.

But Dayton's De'Sarae Chambers hit a 3-pointer at the 11:20 mark to give the Flyers a 12-10 lead and -- perhaps in a foreshadowing of how the second half would go -- that sparked a 10-2 run that put the Flyers ahead, 19-12, with 6:57 to play.

The Dukes battled back to 26-25 at the half on some clutch shooting by Keri Pryor down the stretch, including one with three seconds to play.

Pryor then began the second half with two free throws to give Duquesne a 27-26 lead, but it was short-lived. The Flyers turned up the tempo and turned out the lights on the Dukes.

Dayton had an 8-0 run that soon grew into a 17-4 run and eventually became a 26-5 run, and it was mostly because of the Flyers' ability to score in transition. And if the Dukes did stop the transition, the Flyers worked their offense to get uncontested shots and layups.

McConnell-Serio said there were two reasons the Dukes -- who were without starting point guard Jaclyn Babe -- were unable to slow the Flyers: Their depth and versatility and the Dukes' lack of conditioning.

"It was very disappointing for us, I think some of us ran out of gas," McConnell-Serio said. "I'll take responsibility for us looking fatigued. We had a week off and it showed. But we can't sit here and feel sorry for ourselves, we have to get ready for another game in two days.

"They are a very talented team, though, and I think the biggest thing with them is their depth as they just keep bringing players off the bench and putting them in there and they never skip a beat."

Despite the loss, the Dukes are tied for second place in the A-10 with three teams (Dayton, Charlotte and Temple). No. 10 Xavier (15-3, 5-0) is the only team remaining without a conference loss.

Duquesne was led by Pryor with 11 points and Samantha Pollino with 10; Justine Raterman scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Dayton.

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