By Daryl Velez
The women’s basketball team’s winning streak ended at seven games Friday in the second round of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.
Virginia Commonwealth was victorious over Northeastern 51-50 in a tight contest that had Northeastern hanging on until the last minute, when senior guard Shaleyse Smallwood’s last second attempt at a three-pointer was off, thus ending the team’s season.
The Huskies’ combined record stands at 14-16 in the 2007-08 season, a mark unachieved by any of the previous years’ squads since entering the CAA for the 2005-06 season.
“We’ve done a complete 180 since the start,” said head coach Daynia LaForce-Mann. “The kids are really buying into the program. Our turnaround is a testament to the dedication and resilience of the players, particularly the seniors, who I’m happy for. They will be able to walk out of Northeastern with their heads held high. They’ve really helped to start a legacy and to build a foundation that is going to continue to be built on for years to come.”
The team’s defensive statistics turned around since the first CAA game this season. In their first seven contests of the season, the Huskies allowed their opposition to score at an average clip of 79.9 points-per-game (PPG).
The final seven games proved the opposite. Including the two playoff games, NU only allowed opponents to score an average of 57.3 PPG. Beyond that, Northeastern grabbed defensive rebounds at a higher rate in the last seven games of the season than they did in the first seven.
To open the season, the Huskies averaged 19.7 rebounds-per-game (RPG). In contrast, NU posted an average of 25.3 RPG in its last seven games. The difference these statistics bring is a matter of wins and losses.
Beginning the season at 0-7 was disappointing for the Huskies, but to close out the season at a clip of 6-1 (8-2 over 10 games) was much more than was expected of the team, and perhaps even more than the team itself could come to grips with.
The contest against VCU at the end of the season was also unexpected. After having played the Rams in the first CAA game of the season Jan. 6, and losing 77-65, the Huskies were not predicted by CAA experts to perform at a level that would keep them in the game.
“If you were to tell me that we would have been in a situation in which we were able to have the final score that we did, I would say that that’s a great feat and there’s nothing I would change about that game,” Laforce-man said.
The Huskies had more defensive rebounds than VCU (27-25), more steals (6-5) and a better shooting percentage (37-33 percent)in the game. These stats are staggering, given that VCU was seeded as the third team in the CAA coming into the playoffs and as such had the luxury of a bye in the first round, whereas Northeastern \played its first round match-up (routing George Mason University, 78-46) the day before.
As far as next year goes for the Huskies, this year has provided a jumping off point for Laforce-man’s squad.
“I’m definitely looking forward to continuing where we left off,” she said. “I think we did a great job in the past two years of building a foundation of hard work, integrity and resilience. Now we’re going to bring in some more talented players to be able to pick up where Smallwood left off and where Lucia [Pablos] left off and I’m confident that the guards that I’m bringing in will be as talented as the seniors who left us.”
