2019-2020 roster

After a program-best 20-12 record last season and a 9-9 conference record, Northeastern’s women’s basketball proved themselves even if they ended up falling short in the postseason tournaments.

However, Northeastern will need to overcome some challenges to equal the success of last year’s season. With the addition of five new players, the Huskies will have a very young bench coming into this season with the chance to develop for future seasons.

Freshman forward Mide Oriyomi, from Ontario, is one of the top players to come out of youth Canadian basketball. She was a member of the 2019 BioSteel All-Canadian game along with fellow incoming Husky Sammie Martin.

Freshman forward Martin was a member of the U-18 women’s basketball team for her Canada, going all the way to the finals before ultimately losing to the United States. She played in four out of the six games.

Freshman guard Mossi Staples averaged 14.3 PPG, 3.1 assists per game, 1.5 rebounds per game and 4.6 steals per game in high school. Standout numbers like those for the Huskies will surely create amazing moments on the court this upcoming season.

Freshman guard Century McCartney is a power player. She is good with her hands and comes up big in rebound situations. Along with her physicality, her basketball IQ is off the charts. She can read situations and knows exactly how to predict what her opponents are thinking, a great skill to have to face the D1 talent that NU faces.

Coming from Austria, freshman guard Anna Boruta has shown that she can do well in high-stakes situations playing for her country. Although she only played three out of the five games in the U-18 Women’s European Championship, she played a total of 67 minutes, scoring 16 points for her home country.

However, the Huskies lost four seniors, including key players such as forward Gabby Giacone and guard Jess Genco. Giacone started in all 27 games last season and has won many awards for her on-court play.  Genco was an exceptional player for the Huskies. She graduated from the program as the career record holder in minutes played, games started, assists and 3-point field goals and was the third-highest scorer in program history. She garnered multiple All-CAA first-team selections during her four years of play at Northeastern.

The Huskies face an uphill battle trying to fill the shoes of those who graduated from the program, but the most likely players to do so are sophomore guard Kendall Currence, junior guard Stella Clark, sophomore guard Katie May and newcomer Staples.

Currence played in 22 of 27 games and has proven herself by winning multiple awards, including CAA Rookie of the Week. She dominated in road games against William & Mary and Elon. Clark has proven already that she is an exceptional player. She was voted CAA Rookie of the Week three weeks in a row during her debut season, making her the first person in CAA history to do so. And lastly, May, who is going into her sophomore season, started 23 of 27 games and has proved to be a great adversary on the court.

2019-2020 schedule

Instead of their usual season opener against Boston University, the Huskies will play against South Dakota Nov. 5, a team they did not face last year. The team then travels to Oregon to play the Ducks Nov. 11, yet another team they did not face last season.

On Nov. 23, the Huskies will take on Yale at home in what should be an exciting matchup.

As always, the game of the season will be against Boston University on December 29. Northeastern has fared well against them the last few years and will look to claim another win this season.

Games to watch in the early in-conference season will be the Jan. 5 game against Hofstra and the Jan. 10 game against Drexel, as the Huskies suffered close losses to both teams last season.

Only time will tell if the loss of two leaders will hurt the Huskies’ chances of going far in the season, or if the newcomers will step into the spotlight and build on last year’s historic season.