By Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
The women’s basketball team fell to 2-12 (0-3 Colonial Athletic Association) on the season after dropping their sixth loss in seven games to Old Dominion University Jan. 8.
Sunday’s three point loss showed little sign of the team picking up, as the Huskies dropped a 73-70 decision.
“We need to be consistent. A lot of our players’ approach to how they compete is very inconsistent due to their inexperience,” head coach Daynia LaForce-Mann said. “We tried to focus on [over break] is putting players in a position where they have to fight and battle. A huge part is the mental approach to adversity.”
Junior guard Deanna Kerkhof led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points, including five three point shots.
“Our offense was good, but our defense could have been better,” senior guard and co-captain Jamie Conroy said. “We had some lapses and of course they capitalized on it, which led to them coming away with the win.”
The Huskies turned over the ball 12 times on the night, with freshman guard A’lece Mark turning it over four times.
Sophomore forward Jewel Tunstull scored the first basket of the game and pulled down her second consecutive double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds on the afternoon.
“[Tunstull] really provides a front court presence we haven’t had in the program for a while,” LaForce-Mann said. “She still has to understand the bulls eye that is on her now.
A third Husky scored in double-digits on the night as Mark knocked off a career-high 15 points on the day.
The Huskies started on a 9-0 run and showed no signs of stopping, forcing an ODU timeout.
However, the Lady Monarchs responded with a 19-8 run and closed out the half with a 42-39 lead.
Two Lady Monarchs had career-high scoring games against the Huskies. Old Dominion junior guard Jamie Cook had a career-high on the day and accounted for 19 of the Lady Monarch’s points, while freshman guard Myeisha Hall knocked down 15 points on the day.
“Against ODU, we couldn’t play defensively,” LaForce-Mann said. “We didn’t attain our goal of keeping them under 60 points.”
The Lady Monarchs held the lead for the remainder of the game even as the Huskies tried to tie the game with a last second three by Kerkhof.
“Our offense was good, but our defense could have been better,” Conroy said.
The Huskies shot 45 percent, just shy of the Lady Monarch’s 46 percent. However, the Lady Monarchs dropped more three pointers than the Huskies.
Old Dominion out-rebounded the Huskies 32-30.
Both teams ran into foul trouble as they took 31 fouls before the final buzzer The Lady Monarchs accounted for 17, while the Huskies were charged for 14.
Northeastern will have conference play from here on out and is currently tied for last in the CAA sitting at with Georgia State.
“We’re going to focus on playing hard,” Conroy said. “We’re going out there to earn the respect we deserve and start winning.”
The Huskies are back in action tonight against the George Mason University Patriots at 7 p.m on Solomon Court, before taking on the University of Delaware Sunday at 2 p.m.
The Patriots hold a 7-7 record overall, with 1-2 in CAA play. The last time these two teams played, the Huskies were blown out in a 77-55 loss.
“We’re very inconsistent with key players out at different times,” LaForce-Mann said. “We’re aiming to perform consistently from here onwards and that’s where the challenge comes in mentally.”
