By Chris Tramontozzi, News Correspondent
The women’s basketball team lost Saturday by one of the worst margins of defeat in school history, but rebounded with a win Wednesday night to finish the week 1-1.
Northeastern lost its first game of the year 105-35 to Connecticut in Hartford, Conn., Saturday. UConn, the defending national champion and No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA, showed its dominance early, opening the game with a 28-0 run before NU freshman forward Rachel Pecota hit a 3-pointer.
After that run, UConn cruised to the finish. Northeastern was stifled by Connecticut’s defense, shooting 11 of 57 from the floor for a 19 percent average, while UConn shot 42 of 70 for 60 percent. Northeastern could not get into an offensive rhythm after the run and went into halftime down 69-15.
Northeastern came out stronger in the second half, but was facing back-ups most of the time. NU allowed 36 points in the half, but could only muster 20 of its own.
The lone offensive bright spot for the visitors was Pecota, the only player in double-digits for NU. She scored 10 points on four of 12 shooting and was two of six from the 3-point line. Other notables were senior forward Kim Carr and sophomore guard Kashaia Cannon, who scored seven points each.
The team did not take long to get over its defeat with a 66-46 win over the Delaware State Hornets Wednesday. It was an improved road showing for the Huskies after Saturday’s loss. Delaware State was 12-1 at home a season ago.
Head coach Daynia La-Force Mann said after Saturday’s defeat it was nice to gain a split on the road.
‘It’s a great feeling on the road to get a win at Delaware State against a real good home team,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘We’re a team that’s ready to go home and play in front of our fans.’
The Huskies thoroughly dominated the second half, taking a six-point lead into halftime and turning it into a 17-point lead with a 13-2 run to start the second half. In the win, Northeastern out-rebounded the Hornets 50 to 38 and outshot them 59-55.
The Huskies shot much better this game, going 23 of 59 from the floor for a shooting average of 39 percent. The defense also forced 25 turnovers on the night, though the team had 26 of its own.
‘We were a lot more relaxed,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘We were a lot more patient. We got the same looks as last game but were shooting a much better ball. We still need to stress throughout the season to do the little things better.’
Senior captain and forward Kendra Walton had a team-high 16 points and added seven rebounds to lead the Huskies. She was six of 17 from the field and four of 11 from behind the 3-point line.
Also in double figures for the second game in a row was Pecota. She had 12 points total, all of which came in the first half. She shot three of four from the 3-point line.
‘Coming back from the UConn game to get a win by the margin we did, shows people that we are better than that game,’ Pecota said.
La-Force Mann said she realized this game was much bigger for this team then some would imagine.
‘Everyone’s going to look at us on the big stage against UConn, but we had a bigger stage tonight to show that we are better then how we played,’ La-Force Mann said.
The Huskies look to build off this win and bring it to their home opener against Rhode Island Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Matthews Arena. The game follows the men’s home-opener against Utah State at noon.
