After Friday’s announcement that the Northeastern and James Madison University series set for this past weekend was canceled, it was unsure when the Huskies would play next. Thankfully, since no player or personnel tested positive, the games were quickly rescheduled for Jan. 25 and Jan. 26. 

“This year you never know what’s going to happen at any given moment. The trip down here was easy and we’re ready to go,” head coach Kelly Cole said.  

James Madison was determined the preseason favorites over the summer and is currently second in standings in the conference. JMU went into the series 7-4 and were 5-1 in CAA play. 

“I think we’re ready to commit, we talked about them a lot at the beginning of the season, with them being pre-season favorites,” Cole said. “But we’ve started to come into a rhythm and we’ve started to believe in it.” 

Northeastern drops the ball after first-half lead

JMU came out of the gate ready to play, starting the opening frame with an 8-0 run. However, it seemed futile as NU matched with their own run to tie the opening quarter at eight apiece, forcing six turnovers from the Dukes. 

A great no-look assist from senior guard Stella Clark to sophomore forward Mide Oriyomi regained an 18-16 lead and created an and-one situation that Oriyomi capitalized upon. The Huskies ended the first half up 26-21, forcing 14 turnovers by JMU and scoring nine points off of them. 

Despite starting the second half with back-to-back triples by dynamic duo Clark and Oriyomi, the Dukes rebutted with their own 11-0 run to bring the game back within a possession, 35-32. The Dukes ended up leading 48-43 after three frames. 

JMU put the final nail in the coffin going on an 11-0 run to open the fourth. The hero donned in red and black, Oriyomi, snapped the JMU run giving her 19 points to end the night. Fellow sophomore guard Mossi Staples was also in the spotlight, notching a career-high 14 points and four steals, but it was not enough to overcome the Dukes. 

“I think in the first half we did a lot of things right, in the second half we became complacent and they shut the lights out on us. We’ll regroup and come back to play tomorrow,” Cole said.  

NU splits series 1-1 with a win for the books

Northeastern made history today as they battled back from a tough loss yesterday’s game. This marked the program’s first-ever road win against JMU and a first series win since the 2011-2012 season. 

The effort was led by Clark, who tied her career-high record of 28 points for the first time since her freshman year, with five rebounds and four assists. She was partnered with junior guard Kendall Currence who went for 18 points, three steals and a pair of rebounds and assists. 

Despite another opening run by the Dukes, Clark hit the triple to get the Huskies on the scoreboard. After the opening 10 minutes, JMU was up 17-10. 

Four minutes into the second frame, Currence hit the much-needed triple to bring the game within a possession, 19-17. Freshman guard Maddie Vizza immediately followed her with a three to gain the lead. 

Currence was the fire that was needed for the half as she scored all of her points in the opening half, going 4-4 beyond the arc, and with this effort, the Huskies were up 31-29 going into the break. 

With Currence done with her points for the night, it was time for Clark to bury hers. Clark hit three triples in the third quarter to pad the lead, 54-48. 

“You look at the stat sheet and you think we aren’t a good shooting team but when I look at our roster, I see three-point shooters,” Cole said. “In our hearts we are shooters and we knocked them down today.”

The Huskies faced a slight hiccup in the fourth as graduate student forward Ayanna Dublin fouled out with a little less than six minutes left in the contest but with the collective effort of Clark and Currence going for a combined 46 points, the Huskies pulled out with the win. 

“Yesterday we played 30 solid minutes of basketball and in the fourth quarter we let up. Tonight for 40 minutes we got the message across,” Cole said.

JMU is now 7-5 and 5-2 in CAA play while Northeastern rose to 2-6 and 1-4 in CAA play. Northeastern will go on to play Drexel University (7-4, 4-2 CAA) with home-court advantage Feb. 6 and 7 at noon.