The Huskies let one of the biggest leads they’ve had this season slip through the cracks Sunday afternoon, as Hofstra snuck past Northeastern at the Cabot Center by a single point, 63-62.

Though Northeastern (15-10, 5-9 CAA) was up by thirteen going into the final quarter, a basket by Hofstra (8-18, 2-12 CAA) guard Sica Cuzic with nine minutes left in the game kick-started the biggest comeback of their season.

With three minutes to play in the game, two consecutive big-time 3-pointers by Ana Hernandez Gil put the Pride level with a Huskies outfit that had restricted Hofstra’s offense until that point.

With both teams making their free throws down the stretch, it was after Husky guard Stella Clark went one-for-two at the line that once again Cuzic found the ball with two seconds left, making the and-1 layup over Clark.

After Cuzic knocked down her free-throw to put the Pride up by one, a fumbled catch on the inbound by NU senior forward Gabby Giacone ended the game on a sour note, giving Hofstra the season sweep over Northeastern.

“We had the right shots,” head coach Kelly Cole said. “We just couldn’t get anything to fall.”

Northeastern scored one basket in the fourth quarter.

The game started at a physical and fast with Clark knocking down a 3 to start the contest. With the Huskies starting off 5-6 from the field, they took an early lead at the first quarter break, 21-15. This was capped off by an elegant spinning layup by freshman forward Alexis Hill.

The first half was highlighted by both teams’ ability to hit the target from beyond the arc. Hofstra was 3-9 from downtown, while Northeastern held its own going 4-8. Having made those four 3s in the first half, Northeastern would not make another for the rest of the game, whereas the Pride hit four more in their dominant second half.

Two unsportsmanlike fouls were given throughout the game, highlighting just how physical this game was and how much fight both teams gave. Hofstra guard Boogie Brozoski was handed one after a flagrant foul was committed on Jess Genco two minutes into the second half. NU junior forward Ayanna Dublin was also handed an unsportsmanlike foul after she retaliated to a hard foul from forward Jaylen Hines from the Pride.

Northeastern had a very even scoring spread across the roster on the day with Dublin, Shannon Todd and Genco being the Huskies’ leading scorers. Genco went into the game tying Melissa Kowalski’s all-time career starts record with 115. She finished the contest with 14 points, knocking down one 3-pointer in the process.

Sunday’s loss leaves Northeastern with three straight losses heading into their home games against UNCW (16-10, 9-6 CAA) and the College of Charleston (7-19, 3-12 CAA) this weekend. Cole emphasized the importance of this last portion of the season heading into the CAA tournament halfway through March.

“We’ve got absolutely a favorable schedule going into it,” Cole said. “This is one we were counting on, but we got to get back on top of things.”