By Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
Two of the Northeastern University Women’s Basketball team captains played their last game in their home state this past weekend in the Huskies 72-66 loss.
Senior guards Dani Iervolino and Jamie Conroy both hail from New York state. When the team traveled to Hofstra University on Long Island last weekend, the two captains reflected on their Northeastern basketball careers.
“It meant a lot,” Conroy said. “I had a great turn out of family and friends and I heard them a lot, more than the Hofstra fans.”
Iervolino echoed her co-captain’s remarks, “It mean a lot to us, we’d played all of our lives here.”
In the last four years, Northeastern has a 2-5 record against Hofstra, with one more game scheduled this season.
Iervolino played in the Long Island Championship where she was selected as an all-island teammate in 2008, alongside current Northeastern junior forward Christine Huber.
On the last trip to New York, local Huskies’ families were in the stands in support of their daughters. “It helped keep us in the game,” Conroy said.
Despite the cheers from family and friends, the Huskies were unable to overcome the Colonial Athletic Association No. 2 (5-1CAA) Hofstra Pride, as the Huskies fell 72-66.
It was Hofstra’s head coach Krista Kilburn-Stevesky 100th win of her coaching career.
Northeastern was down by 10 early in the second half, but clawed their way back in with a 14-4 run. Conroy put up eight points in the run as the Huskies tied the game.
The Huskies kept the remainder of the game close. After a 13-7 Hofstra run in the last five minutes of play, they were handed a loss by only six points.
The Hofstra lineup includes junior All-American forward Shante Evans, who knocked down a game-high 21 points against the Huskies, along with grabbing her 11th double-double of the year.
Hofstra sophomore and guard Katelyn Loper also scored in double-digits, dropping 18 points.
The Huskies were led in scoring for the fourth time in a row by junior guard Deanna Kerkhof, for the fourth straight game. Kerkhof knocked down 18 points on the day. Conroy came in just shy of that with 17 points, but grabbed six defensive rebounds in addition to six steals.
“Deanna has always been our go-to player,” Iervolino said. “She’s really a weapon. She’s so versatile, she can take the three and create [opportunities] for herself or for others.”
The loss drops the Huskies to 3-15 on the season and 1-6 in the CAA (3-15 overall).
Northeastern struggled offensively as they fell to the Drexel Dragons last Thursday.
The Huskies managed only 39 points on the board as the Dragons coasted to 66-39 victory.
Six minutes into the game, Northeastern led by a mere 5-2. The team struggled in their shooting, managing only 29 percent shooting on the day.
“Sometimes we forced shots,” Iervolino said. “But shots weren’t falling.”
The Huskies shooting suffered in the second half, as they only managed a two three-pointers out of 10 attempts.
Sophomore forward Jewel Tunstull came into the game averaging over 12 points, but ended the blow out with only five on the day.
Turnovers were a big issue for the team in both games. The Huskies turned the ball over 17 times to Drexel.
“The turnovers were things we did wrong,” Conroy said. “Mistakes, nothing special or forced on us – we were just too quick to make a move.”
Both Conroy and Kerkhof led the Huskies with 12 points.
The 39 points was the season-low in scoring for the Husky team, as the Pride kept its third opponent under 40 points in four games.
The Huskies are back on the court tonight to take on a tough UNC Wilmington team at Solomon Court. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks currently hold an 11-7 record with a 4-3 record in CAA conference play.
