After a 16 day break, the Northeastern women’s basketball team (4-6, 0-0 CAA) upset the Boston College Eagles (4-10, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 73-67 on the road Dec. 19. The win marked Northeastern’s first over a Power Five team since 2018 and gives the Huskies more wins than it had all of last season just 10 games in.
Sophomore forward Justice Tramble dominated under the hoop with a career-high 16 rebounds and nine points. With sophomore center Alyssa Staten out of the lineup for the second game in a row, Tramble showed up for the Huskies. Graduate student guard Nariyah Simmons led scoring with 16 points, and sophomore guard Camryn Collins, freshman guard Kailee Beaudion-Foliaki and junior guard Yirsy Quéliz all notched double-digit points.
In the first quarter of play, Northeastern outscored BC 22-18 by shooting 56.25% from the field and made all three of its free throw attempts. BC only shot 30.77% from the field, but made nine free throws out of 10 attempts, giving the Eagles half their points as Northeastern put them in the bonus with more than six and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Eight of Northeastern’s points in the first quarter came off BC turnovers, compared to the sole point the Eagles got off a Northeastern mistake.
The second quarter was BC’s best of the game as Northeastern struggled to get the ball through the basket, shooting only 27.78% from the field with no successful three-point attempts and no trips to the foul line. The Eagles outscored the Huskies 15-10 despite only shooting 31.25% themselves and earned four points off turnovers by the Huskies. The first half ended with BC up 33-32.
Out of halftime, the Huskies outscored the Eagles 18-15 to take a slim 50-48 lead by the end of the third quarter. Neither team took a trip to the line, but five second-chance points gave Northeastern the advantage it needed to go back ahead. The lead changed six times in the third quarter as the teams battled back-and-forth for an edge. With Northeastern leading 50-39 and just under five minutes to go, the Eagles did not allow another shot, going on a nine-point run to bring it close.
Northeastern took 13 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull out to a 63-49 lead with just over six minutes left. The Eagles inched closer, but a 60% field goal percentage and 10 made foul shots out of 18 for Northeastern kept the team ahead and gave the Huskies the win 73-67.
The Huskies are back in action in the new year with their first conference game of the season against the University of North Carolina WIlmington Seahawks (3-6, 0-0 CAA) on the road Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. Last season, Northeastern lost to UNCW by only three points.
