Just eight games into the season, Northeastern women’s basketball (3-5, 0-0 CAA) already has the same number of wins it had the entirety of last season. The Huskies took wins against the Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-4, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Nov. 22 and the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks (3-4, 0-0 America East) Nov. 25 before falling to the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights (7-2, 0-0 Big Ten) Nov. 28. 

Northeastern’s matchup against Sacred Heart was nothing short of exciting, with the Huskies taking a 68-60 win. Sophomore guard Camryn Collins led the team in scoring with 19 points, followed by junior guard Yirsy Quéliz with 15. Sophomore center Alyssa Staten led in rebounds with 10 and notched eight points. 

Despite the Pioneers taking the first two points of the game off foul shots, the Huskies fired back strong. They jumped out to a 9-2 lead before the Pioneers used a timeout to gather themselves. Energy was high in the Cabot Center from the Huskies’ exciting run, complete with two steals, a three-pointer and jumpers. 

Out of the timeout, the teams went basket for basket until a three-pointer and a jumper put the Huskies up 17-7. A three-pointer for Sacred Heart with 10 seconds remaining ended the quarter with Northeastern up 17-10. 

The second quarter put Northeastern on its toes as the Huskies were outscored 15-10 by the Pioneers. Two lone free throws at the start gave the Huskies a 19-10 lead before each team knocked down three-pointers with over seven and a half minutes to go. The Huskies were then scoreless for the next five minutes. With just over five minutes remaining in the quarter, Northeastern put the Pioneers in the bonus. Sacred Heart took eight consecutive points before a single Northeastern free throw broke the scoring streak and kept the Huskies ahead at 23-21. 

The Huskies took a narrow 27-25 lead into halftime after an and-1 by sophomore forward Taylor Holohan with one second remaining. Northeastern never gave up the lead, but the game got dicey as the Pioneers tied it twice. 

Out of halftime, the third quarter was full of fouls for the Huskies. With just under seven minutes remaining in the game, the Huskies had already collected five fouls to send the Pioneers into the bonus. Nine of Sacred Heart’s 16 points in the quarter came from free throws, bringing the game much closer than it needed to be. The teams went into a media timeout with Northeastern leading 34-33 and just under five minutes on the clock.  

After the media timeout, each team made two foul shots before Northeastern made another three from the line to go up 39-35. Unfortunately for the Huskies, their lead did not last long, as the Pioneers fired off a layup and a three to take a narrow 40-39 lead. Missed opportunities for Sacred Heart allowed Northeastern to take five of the next six points, going into the final quarter leading 44-41. 

The fourth was the highest scoring quarter of the game, with Northeastern outscoring Sacred Heart 24-19. The Pioneers struck early with a layup just 10 seconds in to cut the lead to one, but an and-1 for Collins put Northeastern ahead 47-43. 

The game went into another media timeout with less than five minutes remaining. Northeastern was leading 53-50 after Quéliz sank a transition layup off a steal before Sacred Heart missed a shot and knocked the ball out of bounds.

Out of the timeout, a big block, a travel by Northeastern and a jumper in the paint that cut Northeastern’s lead to one seemed to be enough to change the tide, but Northeastern was not giving up. A jumper by Staten and two made foul shots for Collins put Northeastern up 57-52 before the Pioneers took a fastbreak layup. 

Northeastern took the rest of its points for the quarter off foul shots, making 11 free throws, and Sacred Heart’s six points the rest of the quarter were not enough to stop Northeastern. 

For the first time since Jan. 12 and 14, 2024, Northeastern’s win over UMass Lowell Nov. 25 gave the team back-to-back wins. The Huskies beat the River Hawks 51-46 on the road. Holohan was essential for Northeastern, leading in scoring with 14 points without missing a shot, grabbing five rebounds and notching a steal and a block. 

The first quarter was rough for the Huskies as the team shot just 27% and missed all four three-pointer attempts, compared to the River Hawks, who shot 53% but also missed all of their three-pointer attempts. Northeastern was outscored 16-9 and gave up six points off turnovers. 

Despite first quarter struggles, Northeastern played much better in the second. The Huskies took the first seven points to cut UMass’s lead to one. Although Northeastern shot just 37.5%, the Huskies were helped by UMass, which shot 20% and only made two three-pointers. Opposite the first quarter, the Huskies took four points off UMass turnovers, compared to the River Hawks’ none. Northeastern took a 22-19 lead into halftime. 

Out of halftime, the Huskies played their best quarter of the game, outscoring UMass 19-6. Northeastern shot 40% from the field, while the River Hawks shot a weak 18.18%. Northeastern dominated on putback opportunities, taking 10 second-chance points to UMass’s none. 

Going into the final quarter of play, the Huskies were rolling in the beginning, going up 45-28. The teams exchanged baskets before UMass took 16 of the next 18 points to cut Northeastern’s lead to three with 13 seconds remaining. Luckily, Holohan sank two foul shots, and the Huskies stopped UMass from scoring to take a 51-46 win. 

On Nov. 28, the Huskies matched up against the Scarlet Knights in a tough loss. Northeastern was killed in points off turnovers, second-chance points and fast break points: 22-6, 25-11 and 18-2, respectively. Quéliz led in scoring for Northeastern with 11 points, and Staten had 10 points and six rebounds. 

In the first quarter, the Huskies fell behind early, 21-10. A lone free throw for sophomore forward Justice Tramble brought the score to 13-8 Rutgers with just under four minutes remaining. Northeastern was scoreless for the rest of the quarter until graduate student guard Nariyah Simmons hit a buzzer beater layup with one second remaining, putting Rutgers ahead 21-10 going into the second quarter. 

The second quarter began with the teams going basket-for-basket until, while ahead 29-17, Rutgers took the next six points to go ahead 35-17. Northeastern answered with a five-point run of its own, but the Scarlet Knights kept pulling ahead and went into halftime with a 41-25 lead. 

Through the first half, Rutgers was sent to the line 10 times, making each foul shot, and took another eight free throws in the fourth quarter alone. Although the free throws weren’t enough to switch the lead either way, it demonstrates that Northeastern is not quite past its foul troubles. 

Despite Northeastern having a higher field goal percentage than Rutgers in the third quarter, 53.85% to 47.62%, the Huskies were outscored 24-16, pushing them further away from a chance at victory. Northeastern gave Rutgers plenty of scoring opportunities, with the opponents taking 21 shots in the third quarter compared to Northeastern’s 13. Rutgers also scored 11 points off second-chance opportunities. 

The fourth quarter was the first time all game where Northeastern outscored the Scarlet Knights, 15-14. The Huskies had their best shooting percentage of the game at 54.55%, while Rutgers had its worst at 33.33%. Yet, the quarter was still close, thanks to eight made foul shots for Rutgers off 12 attempts. Rutgers was already in the bonus with five and a half minutes remaining before Northeastern took the last points of the game off a three-pointer by freshman guard Lindsey Lemay for her first collegiate three with a minute left, making the final score 79-56 for the Scarlet Knights. 

The Huskies are back in action against the undefeated University of Massachusetts (6-0, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) in the Cabot Center Dec. 3 at 4 p.m.