By Aren LeBrun, News Correspondent

The women’s basketball team combined a dominant defensive performance with a season-high 19 points from Kashaia Cannon to cruise to a 80-45 victory against Dartmouth College, improving to 3-2 for the season Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s really exciting,” Cannon, who hit a game-high five three-pointers, said. “I’m playing with a group of girls who are really buying into the game plan. They’re just making me better.”

Cannon was aided by fellow guard A’lece Mark (15 points and career-high seven rebounds) and Deanna Kerkhof (14 points, four rebounds). Freshman guard Amencie Mercier pulled down five boards and dished out a team-high seven assists. Senior guard Faziah Steen led Dartmouth with nine points.

The Huskies turned up the defensive intensity early on and didn’t look back. Defense has been a major point of emphasis in their practices, and they held Dartmouth to shooting only 13-52 (25 percent) and did not trail once in the contest.

“It’s become part of our identity,” head coach Daynia La-Force said. “It’s how we defend. With that intensity and that mentality I think it doesn’t matter who we face. We’re going to put forth that defensive effort.”

On the opening possession, Cannon stripped the ball from Dartmouth guard Kamala Thompson and converted a quick three on the other end. Mark added a layup for a five-point lead.

Sophomore forward Abbey Schmitt hit a jump shot to give Dartmouth their first points of the game. Steen followed suit with a pair of free throws, after a Kerkhoff three that prevented consecutive Big Green points.

Mark drove to the lane to convert a tough layup in traffic, and Kerkhoff knocked down two quick three-pointers to give the Huskies a 13-7 lead going into the first media timeout.

After a free throw by junior guard Nicola Zimmer, the Huskies scored seven unanswered to jump out to a 22-8 lead. Freshman guard Jordyn Turner made a strong spin move into the lane to cut the lead to 12, but Cannon pushed the deficit back up to 15 with a three-pointer from the top of the key with 8:11 left in the half.

The Huskies continued their solid defensive play to end the half, culminating in a forced shot clock violation at 2:49. Freshman guard Tiffany Montagne buried a three from the corner to give the Huskies a 40-17 lead going into the break.

Thompson opened the half for Dartmouth by cutting the lead to 20 with a three-pointer. From there the Huskies continued to use their defensive intensity and paced the tempo to go on a 21-8 run to break open the second half.

Cannon hit two of her five three-pointers in the span, as well as a wide open layup off a full court outlet pass from Kerkhof. Mark also nailed a three and had a strong drive to the basket. A turnaround jumper from Huber and a pair of free throws from Tunstull rounded out the scoring for Northeastern during the run.

With a 61-28 lead, the Huskies took control of the game with their fast-paced tempo and never gave Dartmouth a chance to rally, out shooting and out playing them down the stretch en route to a 80-45 victory.

“We’ve been really working in practice on it,” La-Force said. “As a result we got many many opportunities on the offensive end. We’ve been putting more focus on capitalizing on those opportunities.”

With this win, the Huskies are 2-0 at home on the season. They’ve found less success away from Solomon Court, with the current road record standing at 1-2. The Huskies will be looking to carry this momentum into their away game against the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders on Sunday.

“I think we already had a road winning mentality,” La-Force said. “We just had to clear things up. I think this home stand really gave us the confidence we need.”

From a players perspective, this is the kind of game that boosts team morale going forward.

“It’s a big confidence booster,” Cannon said. “We’re in the gym. We shoot every day. To come out in a game and display our practice, it feels great.”

After the brief road trip, the Huskies will return to Solomon Court College on for a two game home stand starting Wednesday against the College of the Holy Cross at 7 p.m.