By Nate Owen, News Staff
A combination of timely second half shooting and a stifling defense helped the women’s basketball team emerge with a pair of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) wins this past week.
With a 54-50 win over UNC Wilmington Thursday night at Solomon Court and a 59-43 win Sunday at George Mason, the Huskies pushed their conference record to 3-2, marking the first time they have ever held a winning record in CAA play.
‘ ‘It’s good for our young kids,’ said head coach Daynia La-Force Mann. ‘We took a bit of a beating in non-conference play. They still believe they are competitive.’
‘ The Huskies went with a slightly different lineup Thursday against the Seahawks (7-9, 1-4 CAA). Sophomore forward Tiffany Crews started in place of freshman guard Brittany Wilson, giving the Huskies a front court heavy lineup, which enabled them to counter the threat posed by Seahawk forwards Brittany Blackwell (14.3 ppg) and Sahsha Taylor (11.1)
‘ ‘Those two players combined have taken over 200 shots,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘We knew we had to switch up the lineups and have more power in the front court and in the post.
‘ The move paid off, as Crews scored the Huskies first six points to give them an early 6-5 lead. Crews finished the night with a career-high nine rebounds and tied her career high in points with eight.
With the Huskies focused on shutting down UNC Wilmington’s inside game, the Seahawks found success from behind the arc, shooting 8-of-16 from three-point range.
‘We can beat Wilmington if they’re shooting jumpers. We won’t be able to beat them if they are pounding the ball inside. We had to make a choice and we decided to take way the inside game,’ La-Force Mann said.
‘ Northeastern took a slim 24-23 lead into halftime, and neither team was able to break away in the second half.
UNC Wilmington took 50-46 lead with 3:16 left on a jumper by’ guard Martha White.
‘ But the Huskies snuck back on a three-pointer by senior guard’ Ashlee Feldman with 2:58 left, cutting the Seahawk lead to one.
‘ With 1:09 remaining in the contest junior forward Kendra Walton’s three pointer came up short, but Wilson was there to snag the rebound. Sophomore guard Jasmine Crew sank a 13-footer to give NU a 51-50 lead with 54 seconds left.
‘I just stayed calm, [and] kept on playing basketball,’ Crew said. ‘I knew that we needed good shots, so I just did what I had to do for my team.’
Following two Crew free throws, Walton stepped to the line with 10 seconds left. Her first free throw clanged off the rim, but her second attempt was on target, securing the Huskies’ 54-50 win.
‘ Crew finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Wilson had 11 points and pulled down six boards.
On Sunday, the Huskies traveled to the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. to face George Mason (2-14, 0-5). The first half was a forgettable one for Northeastern, as they were 0-for-9 from three point range and 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) overall from the floor and trailed 24-17 at the half.
Junior forward Kim Carr ran into foul trouble in the first half and La-Force Mann said this took away the Huskies’ inside presence on offense and caused their 3-2 defense to run out of sync.
However, Northeastern ripped off a 24-4 run to start the half and soon had a comfortable lead over the Patriots. Feldman had 16 points, including a 4-of-8 showing from beyond the arc. Crew turned in 15 points along with 5 assists and nine rebounds, while Walton had 11 points and nine boards.’
‘At halftime I didn’t yell and scream at them,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘I said, ‘I know you played bad, you know you played bad.’ In the second half, I told them to celebrate all the good things we did, each basket, each defensive stop.’
‘ After scoring 11 points against the Seahawks, Wilson finished with nine points against the Patriots, earning her CAA Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season. She was first recognized by the league on Dec. 15.
‘Brittany kept us alive in the first half,’ La-Force Mann said.
Northeastern (6-10, 3-2 CAA) will travel to Drexel (8-8, 4-3 CAA) tonight for a 7 p.m. game.
