By Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
The University of Delaware does not like Northeastern basketball.
Just six days after the men’s basketball team lost to Delaware in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association, the women’s team followed suit.
The Huskies lost to the Fightin’ Blue Hens 74-66 Sunday, ending the season on an 11-game losing streak.
“We have been forced to find a different style of play which compliments our players [during the streak]” head coach Daynia La-Force Mann said. “Although I think our chemistry is much better, we haven’t had time to build trust and confidence and perfect our new style of play.”
Freshman center/forward Jewel Tunstull led the Huskies against the Blue Hens with a career-high 20 points, while junior guard Dani Iervolino also posted a career-high of 14 points.
“I think that the most important thing is that we played as the team,” Iervolino said. “We passed the ball and were really focusing on the game plan – get the ball inside and pass it around. I would take some shots from outside, but Jewel would also go inside and score some points from there. It was balanced with an inside and outside threat.”
Sophomore forward Christine Huber and classmate guard Deanna Kerkhof put up nine and eight points, respectively, while Kerkhof also pulled down five rebounds.
The Blue Hens were led by sophomore guard Elena Delle Donne who put up 18 points, while sophomore Jocelyn Bailey knocked off 14 points.
The Blue Hens went on a 9-0 run with 12 minutes left in the first half to make it 27-19 with 7:46 to play.
The Huskies managed to cut the deficit to six points, but with 6:34 remaining, Delaware’s defense smothered the Huskies, who were held scoreless in the last 6:30 of the half. Going into the locker room at half-time, NU trailed 44-24.
“I think towards the end of the first half, we really didn’t play well,” junior guard Jamie Conroy said. “They took advantage of our poor play and that gave them a big lead that made us have to fight our way back to get within a few points. We got it to five several times, but we just didn’t play well enough for us to get any closer.”
Opening the second half, the Huskies went on a 16-7 run to bring the lead down to 11 points with 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Huskies kept on the attack, but couldn’t erase the 20-point deficit.
“Perfecting our new product has been extremely difficult, especially in a conference where every game offers a different challenge,” La-Force Mann said. “Whether it’s our players having missed key free throws due to lack of mental toughness, or rebounds due to lack of physical toughness and youth. However, we have found a new identity as a team and our players have learned to value their roles.”
The Huskies end with a 8-22 overall record and a 3-15 record in the CAA. Only one of La-Force Mann’s four previous seasons has been worse than this; in her inaugural year as head coach, the Huskies went 4-26 overall and matched this season’s CAA record.
“I think it was a rough year, but a learning year,” Conroy said. “We had a lot of young players, and it was also tough switching styles in the middle of the conference play. We played hard though and I think our future is bright.”
Iervolino said she was also satisfied with the development of the younger team members.
“I think everyone has matured,” she said. “Playing in college is all about a maturity process. Our freshmen played big minutes, especially Jewel. She’s really grown since the beginning of the year. It’s all about buying into the team system and attitude growth as well. From the beginning of the season we saw how things weren’t working out for us and we were able to change what wasn’t working and we’ll grow on that in the upcoming season.”
