The weather outside Solomon court yesterday was messy and sloppy. Inside, it wasn’t much different as the Old Dominion and Northeastern women’s basketball teams played a tepid first half full of turnovers and missed shots.
Both teams were missing key players, as ODU forward Jessica Canady (14 ppg, 10 rpg) was out with a thumb injury, while sophomore point guard Jasmine Crew, Northeastern’s leading scorer (12.8 ppg) missed the game due to violating team rules, head coach Daynia La-Force Mann said.
The Huskies were also without injured freshman forward Kristina Coppolino, who has appeared in 12 games off the bench this season. La-Force Mann said she hopes to have Coppolino back soon, while Crew will return for the Huskies’ next game against UNC Wilmington.
Freshman Dani Iervolino started at point guard in place of Crew.
The Huskies and the Monarchs combined to shoot just 36 percent in the first half and committed a total of 28 turnovers, 16 by NU.
Junior forward Kim Carr scored the first four points for Northeastern (4-10, 1-2 Colonial Athletic Association) connecting on a jumper at 18:39 and a layup off a pass from senior guard and co-captain Ashlee Feldman less then 40 seconds later.
Old Dominion (8-5, 3-0 CAA) finally drew blood at 16:17 when guard Jasmine Parker sank a three to cut the Huskies’ lead to 4-3. The sluggish play continued for most of the first half. Carr split her free throws at 12:56, pulling the Huskies to 9-8. Neither team would score until the 9:18 mark, when Carr once again sank a lay-up.
Northeastern took a three point lead 30 seconds later when freshman guard Jamie Conroy grabbed a rebound and passed the ball to Feldman, who was streaking down the right sideline. Feldman found Carr and freshman guard Brittany Wilson matched up against one Monarch defender under the basket, and Carr set a screen for Wilson, who sank the easy bucket to give NU a 12-9 lead.
With 4:24 left, Feldman drove to the basket and was fouled. She made both her free throw attempts, giving the Huskies an 18-14 lead. However, the Monarchs would whittle away as both teams began to shoot the ball more consistently in the closing minutes of the half.
A three-pointer by center Mairi Buchan gave ODU a 25-23 lead with 48 seconds left in the half. Northeastern’s attempt to grab the lead heading into half was thwarted when freshman guard Dani Iervolino’s three point attempt was blocked by forward Tiffany Green.
“I think that defensively we did a nice job in the first half with our 3-2 zone,” said La-Force Mann.
However, the Husky offense wasn’t up to par with their defense, which led to the halftime deficit.
“I think that we were playing really good defense [in the first half] and sometimes it’s hard for us to put two things together, a really good defense and a really good offense,” Feldman said.
After a sluggish first half, the Huskies were expecting Old Dominion to come out firing in the second.
“I’m sure their locker room chat was not a good one,” Feldman said.
La-Force Mann agreed, saying the Huskies were well aware of the damage Old Dominion was capable of unleashing.
“They’re a top-25 team for that reason. They can turn it on any time they want and we did expect them to turn it on,” she said.
Old Dominion did just that, extending their lead to 40-31 with 13:07 left in the game. The Huskies bridged the gap to 40-34 on a three-pointer by junior forward and co-captain Kendra Walton with 11:49 left.
Both teams picked it up offensively in the second half. Old Dominion shot 57.1 percent, while Northeastern checked in at an even 50 percent.
However, the Monarchs pushed their lead to double figures, 50-39, with 7:08 remaining. Northeastern would cut the lead to single digits several times in the closing minutes, but wasn’t able to rally as the Monarchs escaped snow-soaked Boston with a 66-56 victory.
“I thought the difference in the game was how well we defended the arc against [Northeastern’s shooters],” Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry said. “Kendra snuck out and got a few threes, I thought we did a heck of a job on Feldman.”
Old Dominion turned 30 Husky turnovers into 32 points.
“To win against a team like Old Dominion, you can’t turn the ball over 30 times,” La-Force Mann said. “I felt that we lost the game for ourselves. I don’t necessarily think it was the Old Dominion top-25 program that caused those turnovers. We’re still a young team and we have a lot of learning to do. It’s our job as coaches to get [the players] better and to control our possessions a lot better then we did.”
Carr and Walton finished with 18 and 17 points, respectively, while Wilson had nine points and 10 boards. Guard Jasmine Parker led the way for the Monarchs with 17 points.
On Thursday night, the Huskies traveled to Georgia State and dropped a 71-51 loss to the Panthers (9-4, 2-1 CAA).
The Huskies trailed 30-22 at the half, but Georgia State went on a 15-6 run to open the second half.
Crew led the way for Northeastern with 16 points. Walton had eight points and eight rebounds, while Carr had eight points and four boards.
“I don’t think one member of my team stepped up and played well [against Georgia State,]” La-Force Mann said. “I think they got a dose of reality that you really have to step up on the road,” she said.
Northeastern will continue CAA play when UNC Wilmington (8-6, 1-2 CAA) comes to Solomon Court Thursday at 7 p.m.
