The Northeastern women’s basketball team (5-9, 1-3 CAA) lost a hard-fought matchup 84-83 against the North Carolina A&T Aggies (6-9, 1-3 CAA) that went into double overtime Jan. 9 but won a close battle against the Monmouth University Hawks (10-5, 3-1 CAA) 72-67.
NC A&T was ranked third and Monmouth was ranked eighth in the CAA preseason poll, while Northeastern was ranked last. The Huskies, however, proved they are not the same team as they have been the last two years.
Against the Aggies, sophomore forward Taylor Holohan had a career-high 22 points with nine rebounds, leading scoring for the Huskies. Sophomore forward Justice Tramble had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Junior guard Yirsy Quéliz and sophomore guard Camryn Collins added 19 and 18 points, respectively.
The Huskies were dominant in the first quarter, outscoring the Aggies 21-10. Nine of Northeastern’s points came off NC A&T turnovers and, despite a few lead changes in the beginning of the quarter, an eight-point and a six-point run put the Huskies ahead.
The second quarter was the opposite of the first as the Aggies outscored Northeastern 20-10 to bring the score to 31-30. The difference came in points off turnovers as NC A&T scored 10 to Northeastern’s none. The Aggies also killed in the paint, scoring 12 points to Northeastern’s two.
With the once-large gap erased, Northeastern came out firing in the third quarter to go back ahead, scoring seven straight points before the Aggies made a basket. The quarter went back and forth until NC A&T took a timeout with four minutes remaining to shift the momentum. Out of the timeout, the team went on a 10-point run to go ahead 52-47 before Collins hit a fastbreak layup. A buzzer beater 3-pointer by the Aggies’ freshman guard Jamyia Lindsey — who had a career-high 16 points against the Huskies — ended the third quarter 55-49 in their favor.
In the fourth quarter, Northeastern slowly inched closer to cut the Aggies’ lead down to 67-65 with a minute and a half remaining. With less than a minute on the clock, both teams managed to score 12 points combined, keeping fans on the edge of their seats. With NC A&T ahead 72-69 and four seconds on the clock, Quéliz hit an unanswered 3-pointer to send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, A&T went up first with three straight points, but Northeastern answered back with a six-point run. Yet, in a back-and-forth battle, the Aggies answered back with six of their own. Collins hit a layup and Quéliz hit a free throw to tie it at 81 with 19 seconds left, but neither team scored again.
In double OT, only five points were scored between the two teams. Twenty-five seconds in, Northeastern struck first with a layup, but NC A&T answered with a foul shot with just under four minutes to go. The rest of the quarter was lockup defense until, with 10 seconds left, NC A&T hit a layup that went unanswered. The game ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Huskies, 84-83 Aggies.
Against the Hawks, the Huskies found ways to capitalize and stay ahead in the tight matchup. Collins led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points, and Holohan, Tramble and sophomore center Alyssa Staten all had double-digit points.
Just as in the first game of the weekend, the Huskies dominated in the opening quarter, going up 23-8. Northeastern came out hot, with Collins sinking a jumper just 21 seconds in, starting an eight-point streak and forcing Monmouth to use a timeout just over a minute and a half in. The teams exchanged baskets before Northeastern scored 11 straight to increase its lead to 23-6; the Hawks then answered with two foul shots. Eight of Northeastern’s points in the quarter came off foul shots, as Monmouth committed six fouls.
The second quarter was dominated by the Hawks as they outscored the Huskies 24-13 and improved from an 18% field goal percentage to 50%. The teams battled back and forth until, while Northeastern held a 31-16 lead, the Hawks took 16 of the next 20 points, cutting the once 17-point lead to four. The Hawks were seemingly getting steal after steal as Northeastern’s offense turned sloppy once a full court press was applied, handing Monmouth eight fastbreak points.
The Hawks put the pressure on early in the third quarter, taking the lead a minute in after scoring a 3-pointer and two foul shots. Northeastern answered with a layup to go up 38-37, but a Monmouth 3-pointer put the team ahead by two. A layup by Holohan tied it up momentarily before the Hawks took four straight points in the paint. Back-to-back baskets by sophomore forward Maya Summerville and a three-pointer by Collins gave the Huskies back the lead, 47-44. The teams went back and forth until the Hawks hit a jumper with 16 seconds left to end the quarter 49-48 Northeastern.
After the tough battle of Friday, Northeastern was unwilling to fall. The Huskies scored seven straight points and notched a steal in the first two minutes of the quarter to lead 56-48. The teams went basket for basket as the Hawks slowly got an edge to tie it up at 61, but Collins hit a 3-pointer to put the Huskies back ahead.
In the last nine seconds, the teams scored six points between them in a quick battle. Monmouth scored its last points with two seconds on the clock with a putback, and graduate student guard Nariyah Simmons hit two foul shots with less than two seconds of the clock to end the final score 72-67.
The Huskies are back in action against the Campbell University Camels (10-7, 3-1 CAA) Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Cabot Center. The Camels are currently fourth in CAA rankings and are on a three-game streak, but their biggest strength is at home, where they are undefeated compared to their 2-5 record on the road.
