The Huskies dropped a 70-54 decision to University of Delaware Blue Hens Sunday afternoon on Solomon Court, after picking up their first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) win last Thursday to George Mason University.
The team was unable to overcome its No. 20 ranked opponents, despite keeping the game within single digit points until midway through the second half, dropping to 1-4 in the CAA (3-13 overall).
The Blue Hens put the game out of reach when they went on a 6-0 run 9:41 minutes into the second half, forcing a Husky timeout. They extended their lead to 16 points after the timeout until Huskies senior guard Dani Iervolino answered with a three-pointer.
Junior guard/forward Elena Delle Donne, the country’s leading scorer, led the Blue Hens with 22 points, which was a career-low, and pulled down 10 rebounds.
“[Donne] really energizes her team and gets them going, and I think they needed her to pick it up another level and then matched that level,” Northeastern head coach Daynia LaForce-Mann said.
Junior guard Deanna Kerkhof led the Huskies through again game, posting 14 points on the afternoon, with co-captains Iervolino and senior guard Jamie Conroy both knocking down 9 points each.
Kerkhof had a career-high nine rebounds, but Delaware out-rebounded Northeastern 39-30 and limited the Huskies’ shooting to 36 percent, while the Blue Hens hit almost 45 percent of their shots.
“I thought we had some good looks on the perimeter,” LaForce-Mann said. “But I thought it was a game where we didn’t make the shots.”
Last Thursday, the Huskies snagged their first conference win of the season with a 58-54 decision over George Mason University at Soloman Court.
The Huskies showed some sign of life as they dominated their opponent in the second half coming back from a 16 point deficit at the half to snatch the win out of the Patriots’ hands.
“I think we made some mistakes in the first half,” Iervolino said. “So we went downstairs and talked about what we needed to fix.”
Kerkhof had a career-high 25 points on the evening and was responsible for scoring the go-ahead basket and the final two free throws to seal the game.
“Excitement, I guess would be the biggest [emotion I felt].” Kerkhof said of the shot. “I feel like everyone played really well, everyone contributed to the win.”
Kerkhof had 19 points in the second half, including the lay-in with 17 seconds left to bring the Huskies ahead.
“She’d been out a couple of games,” LaForce-Mann said. “So I think she had a lot of energy built up inside and was ready to really step out there.”
Kerkhof then went on the defensive and blocked the Patriots’ last opportunity at grabbing the win. She sank both free throws to seal the Patriot’s fate and come away with a conference win for the Huskies.
“It was the overall team commitment to get stops on the defensive end,” LaForce-Mann said. “When you’re getting stops, offense is a lot easier.”
The Patriots shot 29 percent in the second half, while Northeastern knocked down 46 percent of their shots. Senior guard Taleia Moton lead the Patriots with 21 points.
For the fifth time in six games, freshman guard A’lece Mark scored in double digits, knocking down 10 points and grabbing six rebounds.
The Huskies are on the road tonight and Sunday playing in two conference games, hoping to turn around CAA play. Tonight, they take the court at 7 p.m. at Drexel University (4-1 CAA, 8-7 overall) in Philadelphia. The team then travels to Hofstra, New York Sunday to face the undefeated-CAA Hofstra Pride team (13-3 overall).
