Northeastern women’s basketball (7-19, 3-13 CAA) fell to the Drexel University Dragons (18-8, 11-4 CAA) 72-61 on the road Feb. 27.
The first half of the game was a battle, heading into half time with the score tied 31-31. However, as is common for the Huskies, they fell apart in the third quarter and handed over the win to the Dragons.
Northeastern has been outscored in the third quarter in the past six games, except when it won against Stony Brook Feb. 15. The mismatch makes a scoring deficit too large for the team to come back from, regardless of how it plays in the fourth quarter.
Despite their struggles, the Huskies played aggressively and had more success in the paint than the Dragons.
Sophomore guard Camryn Collins left off right where she started, returning from injury and leading the team with 15 points. Sophomore forward Justice Tramble scored 13 points, and sophomore guard Morgan Matthews scored 12. Although she did not score any points, sophomore forward Taylor Holohan led the team in rebounds and blocks with seven and two, respectively.
The first quarter was high scoring — each team scored 18. The Huskies shot an impressive 66.7% from the field compared to the Dragons’ 42.9%. Unfortunately, Drexel scored six points off Northeastern’s three turnovers, making up for the shots it missed from the field, and scored four second-chance points to Northeastern’s zero.
Drexel won the tip, but a 3-pointer for Matthews opened up scoring before Drexel got its first points off a third-chance shot opportunity at the shot clock buzzer. The Huskies went out to a 10-2 lead before the Dragons began fighting back, taking the game into a media timeout with Northeastern ahead 14-10 with under three minutes to go.
Out of the timeout, a jumper by graduate student guard Nariyah Simmons increased the Huskies’ lead before the teams exchanged two points each. After over a minute of no scoring, the Dragons scored two straight 3-pointers off Northeastern turnovers to head into the second quarter tied.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Drexel opened scoring with two layups to take the lead before Northeastern got its first points of the quarter off foul shots by Tramble and a fastbreak layup by Collins. Two foul shots put the Dragons back in the lead momentarily, but a jumper by Collins once again showed up for the Huskies and tied it.
It would be another three and a half minutes until Northeastern scored another basket as the Dragons scored two layups to lead 28-24. Collins snapped the scoreless streak before the Dragons immediately answered with a 3-pointer with over two minutes remaining. A late five-point run for the Huskies off a turnaround jumper for Matthews and an and-one by sophomore center Alyssa Staten tied it back up at 31 to head into halftime.
Most teams take halftime to collect themselves. Unfortunately for Northeastern, the team fell apart out of halftime. The Dragons took eight of the first 10 points out of the break to go ahead 39-33. An and-one for Tramble kept things close before things started to go wrong for the Huskies.
Drexel went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to hold a double-digit lead at 48-36. A 3-pointer for junior guard Yirsy Quéliz brought the lead back to single-digits for a moment before the Dragons went on an 8-0 run. Quéliz scored the last points of the quarter off another 3-pointer to end the quarter 56-41.
The fourth quarter was the only time Northeastern outscored the Dragons, 19-16. The teams went point-for-point, with Northeastern securing a slight edge to bring the score to 62-51. The Huskies kept fighting, but an 11-point gap was too much for them to come back from as they took their seventh consecutive road loss, 72-61.
The Huskies are back in action against the Hampton University Pirates (9-18, 3-12 CAA) at home for the Disability Awareness Game March 1 at 1 p.m.
