By Owen Pence, news correspondent

Another week saw the Northeastern women’s basketball team (4-14) struggle in close games, losing back-to-back contests by less than five points each against the Towson University Tigers (8-12) and Elon University Phoenix (12-7).

After a discouraging loss the previous Sunday at the College of Charleston, the Huskies began the new week in Maryland last Thursday, Jan. 22, putting up a valiant fight despite losing 65-61 to Towson.

Sophomore center Francesca Sally notched her third double-double of the season in the loss, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds on three of 10 shooting. Junior guard Kazzidy Stewart added 16 points, tying her season high at the time while notching 35 minutes of court time.

Despite the suboptimal final score, Northeastern showed its muscle in various different aspects of the game, beating up Towson on the boards and in the paint, all while showcasing its impressive depth. The Huskies led 17-4 in points off the bench.

Head Coach Kelly Cole made a tweak to her starting five that paid off in the Huskies red-hot opening half, adding freshmen guard Loren Lassiter and forward Maureen Taggart to her starting unit for the first time this season. The two freshmen helped lead an offensive effort that saw Northeastern jump out to an 18-11 lead in the first eight minutes of play, the team’s largest lead of the game. Despite squandering the lead, the Huskies stayed on pace offensively, finishing the first half shooting 53 percent from the field, its second best mark in a single half this season.

Northeastern’s road trip concluded in North Carolina on Sunday with a devastating 80-77 overtime loss to Elon.

The Huskies again displayed admirable will and toughness, erasing an 18-point deficit in the second half to force overtime. Northeastern found itself within one point with three seconds remaining in the overtime period, but foul shots clinched it for the Phoenix, which improved its home record to 8-3 on the season.

Cole was very optimistic after the loss, especially in response to the Huskies strong offensive performance.

“It was a fantastic team game,” she said in an interview with GoNU.com. “We distributed the ball, we got the ball in so that the outside was open [and] when they pulled out to stop the three, we penetrated and we found the inside dish.”

Once again, Northeastern’s depth was a key factor on offense, scoring a season high 28 points off the bench. Junior forward Samantha DeFreese scored almost all of the points. Her 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting were a career high.

DeFreese was not the only successful shooter Sunday afternoon, as Stewart broke her own recently set record, scoring 19 points in 39 minutes of play. Altogether, the Huskies shot over 48 percent from the field, 10 percentage points higher than the 38 percent mark they’ve averaged throughout this season.

Taggart and Lassiter continued to inject energy into the Huskies lineup for the second straight away game, with the former hitting three 3-pointers and the latter notching six rebounds in the defeat.

This was Northeastern’s second overtime game of the season, with the first resulting in a two-point loss to Hofstra on Jan. 6.

The Huskies are now 2-5 in games decided by five points or less, a mark that magnifies Northeastern’s struggles in close games. Still, it indicates that they’ve remained competitive over the course of the season, despite a .222 winning percentage and a 1-7 record in conference play.

Northeastern now returns home for a two-game stretch this week: a rematch with Hofstra University (12-7) on Thursday, and a showdown with the College of William & Mary (8-11) on Sunday. The Huskies hope a return to the friendly confines of the Cabot Center will alleviate some of the pain that has seen them lose three straight games, all on the road.

“Despite anything else that is going on, this team continues to come in with the enthusiasm, with a work ethic and with an open mind that says ‘we are going to work,’” Cole said. “We are looking forward to starting the second half of the conference season.”

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics