By Justin Clear-Vekinis, News Correspondent
The women’s basketball team ended the season on a high note, grabbing a win from Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) then-No. 3 Hofstra University 80-62 on senior night.
“I’m very proud of my seniors,” head coach Daynia LaForce-Mann said. “I didn’t take them out of the game because they needed to finish it. They’ve been wanting to beat that team, they took it personally.”
The Huskies closed out their regular season with an 8-21 overall record, 6-12 in league play earning them a tenth seed in the tournament.
Four Huskies shot in double digits with sophomore forward Jewel Tunstull and senior guard Dani Iervolino leading the team with 17 points each.
Sophomore forward Christine Huber had 14, and junior guard Deanna Kerkhof had 11.
“I told them before the game. I need five kids in double figures,” LaForce-Mann said. We had four.”
Senior guard Jamie Conroy had nine points, but dished out 10 assists, earning the single-season assist school record, a total of 150.
The game was close up until the last ten minutes, with Northeastern leading by three at the half.
Northeastern opened the second half on a 12-5 run and never looked back, increasing its lead to 20 points, outscoring the Pride 39-24 in the second half.
With the loss, the Pride fall to 19-10 on the season and 11-7 in the CAA.
The Huskies took on CAA top-seeded University of Delaware and walked away with its first loss in four games, falling 89-71 in Delaware Sunday.
The Blue Hens finished the season a perfect 18-0 after defeating No. 11 William & Mary 79-53 last night.
Despite an early lead the Huskies couldn’t stop the nation’s leading scorer, junior guard Elena Delle Donne, who had a game-high 35 points.
“We weren’t trying to stop her from scoring,” LaForce-Mann said. “Our goal was to limit the other players from scoring many points.”
Sophomore forward Jewel Tunstull led the Huskies with 20 points. Junior guard Deanna Kerkhof and senior guard Jamie Conroy both scored in double digits with 17 and 12 points, respectively.
The Blue Hens out-shot Northeastern, knocking down 52 percent of their shots compared to Northeastern’s 46 percent.
“We were going to let [Delle Donne] do her thing,” said senior guard Dani Iervolino, who had nine points with a game-high five rebounds.
The Huskies were out-rebounded by a margin of almost 20, 42-24, which lead to 20 second chance points.
Northeastern failed to limit Delaware’s bench play as 43 points came off of the bench, compared to a mere seven for the Huskies.
The Huskies did manage to score 14 points off 12 turnovers, beating the Blue Hens’ 13 points off 14 Husky turnovers.
Last Thursday the Huskies clinched their third straight win, 78-66, over the Old Dominion University Lady Monarchs in Virginia.
Kerkhof led all scorers, scoring 24 points with a career-high six three-pointers.
“We made shots,” LaForce-Mann said. “We also made important and consecutive stops on the defensive end to stop them from scoring.”
The Huskies go into the CAA tournament with a 6-12 CAA record and are looking to get some crucial wins after last year’s disappointing first round loss to Delaware.
“We’re going to continue to play this style of play,” LaForce-Mann said. “Continue to put points up, and to match up and take away what the opponents do best.”
