PITTSBURGH – On the road, against one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the George Mason women's basketball team rode a strong first-half shooting performance to a double-digit lead.

But Duquesne heated up as well in the second half and the Patriots couldn't fend off a rally from the Dukes in a 71-64 loss on Sunday at the A.J. Palumbo Center. 

Despite 25 points from freshman Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Natalie Butler's 19th consecutive double-double, Mason (15-5, 4-2 A-10) lost to Duquesne for the sixth straight time. The Dukes (16-3, 6-0), who are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in A-10 play and entered with an RPI of 73, have never lost to the Patriots at the Palumbo Center.

Cardano-Hillary scored 25 points, grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Butler had 13 points and 14 rebounds for her 19th straight double-double, which is tied for the fifth-longest streak in Division I women's basketball history. Freshman Camarie Gatling also added 10 points off the bench.

After trailing by seven early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots pulled within two, 56-54, with 5:47 to go after back-to-back baskets by Cardano-Hillary, who notched her ninth game with 20 or more points. Duquesne, however, grabbed an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession and cashed in with a 3-pointer by Chassidy Omogrosso, who had a game-high 28 points. The trey sparked a 7-0 run for the Dukes for a 63-54 advantage that all but sealed the victory.

The Patriots made six of their first 10 shots to jump out to a 13-3 lead. Duquesne made just one of its first eight shots (12.5 percent). A 9-0 run late in the first quarter that spilled into the second period thanks to six points from Cardano-Hillary and a 3-pointer by sophomore Jacy Bolton gave the Patriots their largest lead, 25-13 with 7:19 left in the first half.

Mason kept Duquesne at an arm's length the rest of the half, taking a 34-26 lead into halftime. But Mason made just four baskets in the third quarter as the Dukes began to storm back. The Patriots led 45-38 after Sarah Kaminski's layup with 2:02 remaining in the period.

Momentum turned back to Duquesne as Julijana Vojinovic's jumper on the following possession boosted the Dukes on a 16-2 run that gave them their first lead since 3-2 less than minute into the game. Vojinovic scored eight points during the stretch and bookended the spurt with another jumper for a 54-47 lead with 8:01 left as the Dukes wouldn't surrender the lead from there.

Duquesne shot an impressive 61.5 percent (8-of-13) in the final quarter to close out the victory. The Dukes also outrebounded Mason, which entered as the league's top rebounding team at more than 45 boards a game, at 38-33. The Patriots committed 16 turnovers, which Duquesne converted into 19 points.

The Patriots, who had won five of six, will look to bounce back when they begin a two-game homestand against Saint Louis at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at EagleBank Arena. Mason rides a program-record 12-game home winning streak into the matchup and is 11-0 at home this year, also a program record.