By Erika Carrubba

Sophomore guard Shaleyse Smallwood made all 12 of her attempts from the free throw line and scored 22 points in a loss to Kansas on Sunday.

Senior forward Erica Sheppard had six rebounds in the team’s loss to Boston University on Nov. 21.

And in a loss to Holy Cross to open the season on Nov. 18, freshman guard Ashlee Feldman scored a game high 20 points.

Despite solid solo performances, the women’s basketball team dropped three of their first four games to start off the 2005-06 campaign. The Huskies pulled out their first win of the season against Providence (71-51) last Wednesday.

Northeastern dropped their first game, 76-60, to Holy Cross. The Huskies used only seven players in the game due to an injury-depleted bench. Northeastern led the game until there were only 36 seconds left in the first half. The Crusaders then kept the lead in the second half. Sheppard had a double-double, scoring 15 points and adding 10 rebounds.

In the team’s second game against BU, freshman Joanna Ausmann and Ashlee Feldman led the offense with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The Huskies again had only seven available players in the 73-46 loss.

“Six of our top 10 players have been out, which makes a huge difference,” coach Willette White said. “We played two freshmen over 30 minutes and two sophomores who didn’t play a lot last season. It’s nothing we didn’t do so much as we did the best we could with what little we had.”

Smallwood, senior guard Maralene Zwarich and senior forward Quiana Copeland were on the court for the first time this season in the win over Providence. Smallwood had been out “for undisclosed personal team reasons,” White said, and Zwarich and Copeland are back from injuries.

Smallwood made an immediate impact with 26 points, four rebounds and five assists. Feldman again scored double-digit points (20), going 6-6 from the free throw line. Zwarich played only 18 minutes, but lead the team with six rebounds.

The team traveled to Kansas and lost a close game despite shooting 24-of-29 from the free throw line. With seven seconds left in the the game, a jumper from Smallwood brought the Huskies within three points, but the Jayhawks scored a pair of free throws to secure the win.

Zwarich scored 19 points and Smallwood and junior co-captain Jody Burrows had four assists each.

“I absolutely think how we played [against Providence] is how we have to keep playing,” White said. “It was the same thing at Kansas. It was a five-point ball game against a good team with a pretty good-sized crowd. It was a good sign for the rest of the season with these girls back.”

Feldman was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week for the week of Nov. 22. She was the first member of the team to garner a CAA award as she scored 20 points in her collegiate debut against Holy Cross.

Smallwood followed Feldman as the CAA named her Player of the Week for Nov. 28 after she shot 55.6 percent from the field when she returned to the Husky lineup.