Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball suffered an 82-63 defeat Sunday against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

"It was a very physical game today," head coach Karl Smesko said. "We turned the ball over too much and had too many defensive breakdowns to be in it at the end."

Emani Jefferson earned her first starting nod of the season for the Eagles, producing a 17-point performance. Maddie Antenucci came up one point shy of tying a career-high with a team-leading 19 points.

Antenucci drained three of the Eagle's five made 3-pointers Sunday as Duke forced FGCU into a season-low 12 attempts from deep. Ajulu Thatha produced her fourth consecutive double-figure outing with 11 points.

Duke cashed in 29 points off of 22 FGCU turnovers. The Blue Devils' height inside made the Eagles uncomfortable in its secondary system of driving to the basket, recording eight blocks on the day. However, FGCU won the battle of the boards 34-26.

FGCU led the Blue Devils after one, 19-17, and Antenucci's back-to-back trifectas put the Eagles up by six, 25-19, at the 7:45 mark in the second quarter. FGCU went 11-of-12 from the line in the first.

Duke battled back to reclaim the lead, 32-30, with a go-ahead layup in transition. The Eagles trailed by five heading into halftime, 43-38.

The Blue Devils began the third quarter with a 15-4 run to put FGCU into a hole that the Eagles could not escape from. FGCU would draw no closer than a nine-point spread the rest of the way.

An Antenucci layup in the waning seconds of the third period pulled the Eagles to within nine at 62-53, but Duke sank a deep three at the buzzer to take a 12-point advantage into the fourth.

FGCU will enjoy a 10-day break before returning to the court Wednesday, Dec. 20, hosting Drexel in the Homewood Suites Classic at Alico Arena.