Duquesne and No. 24 Pitt staged the women's version of the City Game last night at the Palumbo Center; and while it is clear the Dukes under second-year coach Suzie McConnell-Serio are a team on the rise, it is also clear they have a ways to go to catch up to the Panthers and other Top-25 programs.

Duquesne (6-2) fought hard for the first half and remained within striking distance for much of the second, but Pitt (5-1) used its advantage in size, strength and athleticism to wear down Duquesne and come away with a 66-47 win.

The Panthers' superior athleticism was evident as their defense disrupted everything the normally offensive-minded Dukes were able to do. But Pitt's size also proved to be too much, as the frontcourt of Pepper Wilson (6-5), Shayla Scott (6-1) and Kate Popovec (6-3) combined to score 29 points and grab 22 rebounds. As a team, Pitt outrebounded Duquesne, 44-34.

Pitt coach Agnus Berenato said it was a satisfying night, because it showed the Panthers have the potential to be a dominant defensive team and can control the paint as Wilson and Popovec -- both freshmen -- continue to improve with experience.

There is also the bragging rights as the city's top team, which, at least for one more year, will stay in Oakland.

"City pride is something we all talk about all the time, and [the men's teams and women's teams from both schools] know the players on both teams so it makes it special," Berenato said. "We turned up the defensive pressure and took Duquesne out of what they wanted to do. We've been asking, 'What do we want our identity to be, what do we want to be known for?' And the answer is great defense.

"We want to get stops, to get rebounds and run and we did that. They did get a lot of shots off, but we were right there, we had our hands right there, we were able to tip them and so it wasn't just a matter of them shooting poorly. We had something to do with that and that makes you happy."

Popovec, who led Pitt with 15 points and 12 rebounds, said at halftime Berenato challenged the post players to play bigger and be more physical.

"She was definitely on us about the rebounds," Popovec said. "She kept saying, 'They have nobody over 6-2 and they are playing neck and neck, go out, use your body and use your size,' so we went out and used our size to our advantage."

It is the fourth consecutive time Pitt has beaten Duquesne, a statistic that shows how dramatically the balance of power between these two teams has shifted in recent years.

The Panthers lead the all-time series, 19-8, but Duquesne had won seven of eight games from 1998-2004 and had become the top team in the city.

Now, however, it is the Dukes doing the chasing. McConnell-Serio said playing a Top-25 team like Pitt is a good barometer of where her program is -- and where it needs to be.

She said the Dukes, who were missing Alex Gensler due to illness, were able to play with the Panthers, but obviously still needed a few more players in order to physically match up with them.

"We knew we needed to play a great game to win and I thought we played them well through three-quarters of the game," McConnell-Serio said. "We are a team that puts points up on the board and we didn't shoot the ball well, but their size and athleticism had something to do with that and gave them second and third chances under the basket.

"When you are facing a front line that's 6-5 and 6-3, you obviously have to expend a lot of energy to try and neutralize them and it was a matter of them being just too dominant on the inside."