Throughout the early portion of the season, women’s basketball head coach Daynia La-Force Mann has stressed the need for her team to gain the confidence to compete in games.
That confidence was on full display when junior forward and co-captain Kendra Walton stepped to the free throw line with 11 seconds left and the Huskies clinging to a 54-53 lead over Rhode Island at the Thomas M. Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I., last night.
Walton sank both her shots, giving the Huskies a three point lead and an eventual 56-53 win.
“I was just hoping that I didn’t miss them,” Walton said. “We talked about getting confidence [to compete] during the game. I didn’t miss them and it pushed us over the edge,” she said.
After losing a 71-68 heartbreaker to Boston University last Tuesday at Matthews Arena, the Huskies were able to close out URI down the stretch, something they couldn’t do against the Terriers.
Getting the first win out of the way was important for the young Huskies.
“It’s very important, especially the way we won,” La-Force Mann said. “We were up by one point with 1:24 to go. This early in the season, it’s important to come together and win close games down the stretch.”
La-Force Mann said her team’s goal in practice this past week was to hone its defense and hold its opponent under 60 points, which it was able to do against URI (3-4).
“I thought we did a nice job defensively,” La-Force Mann said. “The last couple days in practice we made some adjustments to our defense and it showed tonight.”
The Huskies took a 17-10 lead with 8:51 left in the first half on a fastbreak layup by freshman guard Brittany Wilson. However, Ram guard Lindsay Harris’ bucket with fourteen seconds left gave URI a 28-26 lead at the half.
Walton’s three-pointer with 5:23 left gave Northeastern (1-4) a 54-46 lead. The Rams battled back, but couldn’t even it up, as Walton sank her free throws and Ram guard Megan Shoniker’s three-pointer was no good as time expired.
For the third straight game, junior forward Kim Carr was a force in the paint for Northeastern. Carr finished with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She also collected five rebounds.
“I’m really proud of Kim Carr, she really stepped up,” La-Force Mann said. “We’re a better team now [with] an inside presence, that’s something we missed last year.” Despite Carr’s continued emergence as an offensive threat, La-Force Mann isn’t worried about teams zoning in on her.
“That’s what we want,” La-Force Mann said. “We are known as a perimeter team, and if [the inside game] gets taken away, we still have the perimeter game to fall back on. Teams are still afraid of our ability to get to the basket and [that’s] keeping Kim one-on-one inside the post. If that does change, we have to be ready to adjust.”
Walton finished the game with 10 points and eight boards. Sophomore guard Jasmine Crew had 13 points and six assists.
Senior guard and co-captain Ashlee Feldman was just 1-of-7 from the floor, but her lone bucket was a huge three-pointer to break a 38-38 deadlock with 13:07 left in the second half.
“Both her leadership and defense are keeping her on the floor,” La-Force Mann said. “Ashlee is a very confident shooter. The best way to get out of a shooting slump is to shoot the ball. She’s still a factor when she’s on the floor, she’s opening things up for Kim Carr and our other guards. She hit a big three for us late in the second half. You never know when she is going to knock down that big shot.”
The Huskies shot a season-best 43.1 percent from the field against URI.
The Huskies will travel Saturday to face former America East opponent Stony Brook (0-6) at 2 p.m. in New York.
