By Sarah Metcalf

In the past week, the Northeastern women’s basketball team dropped one game, but picked another one up, losing to the University of Hartford by beating the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, bringing their America East record to 3-1.

Sophomore Maralene Zwarich continued to be on fire, scoring a career-high 39 points and setting a school record with 17 field goals against UMBC. She also had a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) in the loss to Hartford. Her performances earned her the title of America East Player of the Week for the second week in a row.

Zwarich attributed her success to the constant defensive pressure her team applies to its opponents.

“I just think I’ve been feeding off my defensive intensity, and that picks up my offensive intensity as well,” Zwarich said. “Right now, I’m feeding off everyone else as well – everyone this year is playing hard and has stepped up their game.”

On Saturday, the Huskies took on the UMBC Retrievers at Solomon Court in their fourth America East contest of the season. Despite their previous 0-12 record, UMBC came out firing, hitting seven of their first eight attempted field goals, three from behind the arc. With 11 minutes left in the half, the Huskies looked flustered as the Retrievers held their largest lead of the game, 26-15. Rallying behind back-to-back three’s from senior Melissa Kowalaski and freshman Jody Burrows, the team went on a 15-4 run and fought back to even the score at 30-30.

Despite impressive first-half efforts from Zwarich (10 of the team’s first 19 points) and Kowalaski (4-for-5 from three-point range), at the end of the half, UMBC led 38-35 due to a stellar 14-for-21 shooting performace, and 8-for-10 from three-point land.

In the beginning of the second half, NU continued to struggle, and was down 56-50 with 12 minutes left in the contest. It was then that the Huskies turned up the heat, going on an 11-0 run and taking a 61-56 lead. The Retrievers cut the lead to three with about seven mintues left, but Kowalaski stepped up and sunk a three on NU’s next trip down the court.

Overall in the second half, Northeastern went 20-for-32 (62.5 percent) from field goal range, and swished five of its eight attempted three-pointers to take the game.

Zwarich shot 65 percent from the field (17-for-26), and had nine rebounds and two assists. She tied Carla Singleton for the third-best scoring game in NU history, and broke Katasha Atris’ previous field goal record of 16.

However, Zwarich wasn’t the only one breaking records. Kowalaski made six shots from downtown, setting an NU record of most three-pointers in a game and the team itself set a record for most three-pointers in a game with 10.

Kowalaski finished with 18 points, senior Joi Jefferson had 12 points and four assists, and junior Francesca Vanin added 13 of her own. Maria Brown scored 19 for the Retrievers, who had five players in double-digits.

“I don’t think it mattered that UMBC was 0-13, they came out and shot the lights out,” coach Willette White said. “The difference was that we picked up our defensive intensity and started causing turnovers. They had 21 turnovers, and we were able to capitalize on that. They struggled with taking care of the ball.”

The Huskies didn’t fare quite as well against Hartford at the Chase Family Arena, Wednesday night. Despite Zwarich’s double-double, and the fact that NU dominated most of the first half, the Huskies allowed Hartford to take the lead with 3:40 to play in the game. Hartford junior Liz Stich hit a three-pointer, putting them up 55-54. Although Zwarich scored on the next play to regain a slight lead, Hartford’s Erika Messam answered with a bucket to put her group on top for good.

Zwarich led all Northeastern scorers, but Jefferson had seven points and Burrows added five points and four assists. Hartford’s Tamika Price had 17 points and 10 rebounds to pick up the double-double. Hartford improved to a league-leading 12-2 overall, and 3-0 in the America East. It was Hartford’s seventh consecutive win.

However, Zwarich is confident about her team’s ability to win the America East.

“We have players on this team that step up when they need to,” Zwarich said. “I’m excited about this team, and about what the next three years are going to bring.

“This is really our year, and I think we’re as close as we’ve ever been to getting an America East title,” she added. “We’ve definitely got a legitimate chance to win it.”

The Huskies return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Binghamton in an AE matchup.