By Owen Pence, news correspondent
Despite its best offensive performance of the season, the Northeastern women’s basketball team (4-19) was bested once again on Sunday afternoon, losing 84-78 to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks (10-14).
It was the Huskies eighth straight loss, all of which came against Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponents. The CAA has treated NU poorly all season, with the Huskies only in-conference victory occurring on Jan. 16 against this same UNCW squad.
Just as it did a month ago, NU found success offensively against the relatively inexperienced Seahawks roster, exceeding its average scoring output by 16 points in the loss.
Five different Huskies reached double-figure point totals, including a career-high 20-point performance from senior guard Amencie Mercier. Mercier connected on seven of 12 shots from the field and 3-4 from behind the arc, all while adding five assists and two steals in a full 40 minutes of play.
“Tonight, Mercier had a fantastic, fantastic game,” Head Coach Kelly Cole said in a postgame interview with GoNU.com. “We’re asking her to play 40 minutes a game, every game, and she continues to lead this team in any way that she can.”
While Mercier led the charge out of the gate, it was a noteworthy team effort throughout the entire first half. NU hit 17 of its 27 first-half field goal attempts, including seven 3-pointers from four different players. Headlining the group was freshman forward Maureen Taggart, whose nine first-half points all came from behind the arc, providing integral floor-spacing and outside shooting for the Huskies as she has done all season.
NU’s 44-38 halftime lead didn’t last, however, as the Seahawks regained the lead on a layup from sophomore guard Amber Reeves with 12:31 remaining. After much back and forth, UNCW grabbed the lead for good on a successful jumper from sophomore guard Naqaiyyah Teague, making it 72-70 Seahawks with 4:44 remaining.
Although the Huskies would stick around until the final minute, Cole’s group couldn’t put together enough defensive stops to reclaim the lead.
“We’re putting together some fantastic ball movement,” Cole said. “We’re executing offensively better and better every single game. We’re learning how to work together and find each other and it’s showing in our offensive production. Our biggest task coming up here is going to be finding a way to play some defense.”
Defense is what has plagued the Huskies of late, having allowed 70 or more points in five of their last six contests for an average of 74 a game, well above their seasonal average of 69 points allowed per game. NU was able to hold the Seahawks to just eight bench points, the lone bright spot in an otherwise bleak defensive effort.
Still, Sunday’s loss had no shortage of encouraging signs for the Huskies as they enter the home stretch of their regular season schedule. NU shot 52.5 percent from the field on the afternoon and 58.8 percent from three, well above its average marks of 39 percent and 32.6 percent, respectively. These offensive contributions came from all different directions, including an impressive 24 points from the Husky reserves.
“In this league, people are able to shut down one person or two people, but they’re not going to shut down five,” Cole said.
This week, NU returns home for a pair of rematches with conference rivals Elon University on Thursday at 7 p.m. and the College of Charleston on Sunday at 2 p.m., hoping to put an end to its eight-game losing streak.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Cole said. “As tough as it is to continue to say that, we’re doing some really nice things.”
The Huskies hope that those “nice things” are finally able to translate into their first victory in over a month.
Photo courtesy UNCW Athletics
