Northeastern’s clutch shooting and strong second quarter was responsible for their 77-68 win over Towson Sunday afternoon at Cabot Center.

The day began in high spirits as both Gabby Giacone and Jess Genco received awards for their efforts in recent games. Senior guard Genco was recognized for becoming the Huskies’ all-time assists leader with 499. Giacone, a senior forward, was celebrated for her 1,000th point, which she gained two weeks prior against Charleston.

Northeastern (15-7, 5-6 CAA) got out of the blocks early, opening the game leading 9-3. However, Towson (13-9, 7-4 CAA) managed to contain the early onslaught through a strong defensive effort from their forwards.

Last time out in Towson, the Tigers out-blocked the Huskies 12-1, and the opening period in Sunday’s matchup showed a similar pattern, as the visiting team rejected seven of Northeastern’s attempts, with three blocks from senior center Maia Lee.

With sophomore guard Stella Clark leading the opening quarter in scoring for Northeastern with five, the Huskies held a slim lead at the first break, 17-16.

Back-to-back 3s from Genco and freshman guard Kendall Currence broke the lead open for Northeastern, showing the style of play that has been lacking of late. This deadeye display of shooting from distance propelled the home team to a 10-0 run, extending its lead to 13.

“I just try to focus on what I have to do,” Currence said post game. “I get my momentum from my defense, and when that starts to go, my offense starts to go too.”

Northeastern’s 39-29 lead at the end of the first half was aided by Genco’s 12 points and 10 points off the bench from Currence, each with two 3-pointers apiece. Giacone also assisted on the boards with six rebounds to go along with her eight first half points.

The Huskies were able to keep the Tigers at bay for the majority of the second half and were on track to redeem themselves after losing to the same team back in January. But halfway through the fourth quarter, Towson went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to five at 73-68 with only two minutes remaining.

After Genco fouled out with 2:30 left in the game, it came down to her teammates to take the contest home, and thanks to clutch free throws from freshman guard Katie May and junior forward Ayanna Dublin, the Huskies put the game beyond doubt with the 77-68 win.

“We still have a lot of growing to do as a group,” head coach Kelly Cole said. “We had freshmen doing great things tonight, and we’ll be in contention when we get everybody scoring as we did tonight.”

The win puts the Huskies at 5-6 in conference play and places them in the sixth seed in the CAA heading into the team’s next road trip, where they’ll clash with fifth-placed Delaware (10-12, 5-5 CAA) and second-placed Drexel (16-5, 8-2 CAA).