The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Penn State women's basketball team proved that mantra wrong this past week.

After starting the season with two losses, the new version of Penn State -- seven new players suited up for the Lady Lions this year -- closely resembled that of last year, which started the season with three losses.

However, Penn State (1-2) avoided a repeat of last year, handily beating Duquesne (2-2), 81-62, Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

After the game, Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said she was pleased with her team's first victory of the season.

"I don't care who it came against or where it came, this one feels nice," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said in a post-game press conference. "This is nice because some of the kids could've been focusing in the wrong things, like Thanksgiving, but they stayed with the goals and pulled it out."

Penn State jumped ahead early, starting the game with a 10-0 run. The Dukes couldn't find any rhythm against a stout Lady Lions defense in the first half, shooting an abysmal 29.6 percent.

By the end of the first half, Penn State had an 18-point lead.

Duquesne managed to cut the lead to six with 13 minutes remaining in the second half, but another Penn State run increased the lead to 13 points.

For the game, the Lady Lions shot an impressive 52 percent from the field.

Junior center and co-captain Amanda Brown led Penn State with 18 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Adrienne Squire added 17 points for Penn State.

The win comes after two tough home losses. No. 1 Duke destroyed Penn State, 93-76, in the Lady Lions opener, and in the same weekend, Penn State dropped a heartbreaker to Villanova by only three points.

After two tough losses, Portland said the win gave Penn State a moral boost.

"I was happy to see my team happy," she said. "They are excited for the win because they were devastated after [the loss to Villanova]."