Returning home after a 73-66 conference win away against the University of Delaware (6-12, 2-4 CAA), the Northeastern women’s basketball team (7-10, 3-4 CAA) hoped to secure another win at home against the No. 11 Campbell University Camels (10-9, 3-5 CAA) Jan. 28. Riddled with injuries and offensive struggles, the Huskies fell 54-43 to the Camels.
The game celebrated National Women and Girls in Sports Day, with a youth girls’ basketball team playing during halftime. After the end of the fourth quarter, athletes from Northeastern women’s basketball, women’s rowing, women’s soccer, volleyball and dance teams offered autographs to fans at the game.
Freshman guard Yirsy Quéliz opened up the game with a three-point jumper, but the Huskies then faced a six-minute 12-0 run from Campbell. The Camels were on top 16-7 at the end of the first quarter, holding onto their lead for the remainder of the game.
The second quarter was filled with chaos as the Huskies racked up five fouls and Campbell tallied three, causing tension on the sidelines for both teams.
A three-pointer from senior guard Maddie Vizza along with a layup by senior forward Deja Bristol trimmed the deficit to six in the middle of the third frame, but the Camels continued to build their lead throughout the half. Campbell claimed its biggest lead with 33 seconds left of the game, and eventually ended on top 54-43 after a three by Northeastern senior guard Derin Erdogan cut the lead to nine.
Northeastern has struggled with injuries throughout the season, and this game was no exception. Though junior guard Gemima Motema recently made her return to the court, fifth-year guard Jaelyn Batts suffered an injury to the right shoulder with 1:51 left in the game. Batts started in the past six matchups and leads the team in blocks with 14 for the season.
Motema’s return, however, kept the impact of the additional injury to a minimum. Motema returned back to Solomon Court against Campbell after sustaining an injury against Boston University Dec. 22. Motema tallied six points, three rebounds and two assists against Campbell.
“I think she’s still working her way back,” said head coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd. “She’s got to tighten up defensively and get back into a flow. She’s working her way back to playing form.”
After Northeastern fell 83-46 against the College of Charleston Jan. 21., one of their worst losses this season, Edwards-Lloyd aimed to work on team preparation in focus for the following games. Although they won their next game on Jan. 26, with this loss and two upcoming road conference games, there’s still a lot to be worked on.
Northeastern ended the game with a .315 field goal and .285 three-point percentage, which are some of the team’s lowest this season. The season averages for the team are .427 and .345, respectively
“Sunday’s games are tough just the way the league is set up,” Edwards-Lloyd said. “You have to have players ready to step up for the weekends. It’s a lot to ask of to do this turnaround and it takes everybody.”
With Batts’ injury, Edwards-Lloyd is focused on making adjustments that she hopes will lead to more conference wins.
“We need to focus on defense — that’s all we can do at this point,” Edwards-Lloyd said. “I think offensively, we’re doing good enough things to win, but we’ve actually got to take care of the ball and defend.”
Following this game, the Huskies won 51-46 against Elon University (7-15, 3-6 CAA) on Feb. 2. and lost 72-49 against North Carolina A&T State University Feb. 4 (14-6, 8-1 CAA) . The team then returns home Friday to play Monmouth University.
