Northeastern women’s basketball (7-21, 3-15 CAA) lost to the Hofstra University Pride (8-21, 6-12 CAA) 62-46 March 7 on senior day.
To kick off the senior celebration, the women’s basketball team managers handed flowers to each of Hofstra’s seniors. The first honoree was graduate assistant Taniyah Thompson, who joined the team in September 2025. She previously played at University of Georgia, Penn State and East Carolina before playing overseas in Turkey.
Next, the team honored redshirt senior guard Natalie Larrañaga. Although she did not play this season due to an injury, head coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd said she is “a great teammate.” Last season, Larrañaga started 11 games, was third on the team in assists and fourth in points, steals and rebounds.
The final honoree was graduate student guard Nariyah Simmons. Simmons has been a huge addition for the Huskies this season, leading the team in steals and ranking second in assists and fifth in rebounds at just 5-foot-2.
“[Larrañaga] is always there for her teammates, even when she’s had her unfortunate injuries and things like that. Nariyah’s been an impact of leadership and toughness that we greatly appreciate on the floor,” Edwards-Lloyd said. “Both of them are just great human beings. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to win for them, but just really, really proud of how they carry themselves as women.”
Simmons tied for the most rebounds on the team against the Pride with five and scored nine points. Sophomore forward Justice Tramble had a game-high 15 points and tallied five rebounds. Tramble has led the team in scoring in four of the last five games.
Hofstra’s high pressure at halfcourt and consistent double teams left Northeastern flustered and contributed to 20 turnovers. While the Pride were undisciplined with 18 turnovers, they took advantage of the Huskies’ mistakes, converting 24 points off turnovers to Northeastern’s 13.
The game kicked off slowly, with nearly three minutes ticking off the clock before Hofstra took the first points off a shot in the paint. Nearly a minute later, Northeastern took its first points off a jumper by sophomore guard Morgan Matthews with under six and a half minutes to go.
After 30 seconds of no scoring, the teams began going shot for shot until the quarter headed into a media timeout with the Huskies holding a narrow 10-9 lead. Northeastern held Hofstra scoreless the rest of the quarter while taking four points of its own, heading into the break up 14-9.
Hofstra hit two quick threes to open up the second quarter and take a 15-14 lead. The teams swapped the lead four times before another media timeout.
After the timeout, things started to fall apart for Northeastern. Matthews hit a free throw to resume play before the Pride scored 10 of the next 12 points to take a 29-21 lead into halftime, including off back-to-back 3-pointers. Northeastern made just one shot from the field and only had six attempts, limiting scoring possibilities.
As is typically the case for Northeastern, the third quarter was a difficult showing as the Huskies were outscored 18-8.
The teams swapped baskets to begin the quarter before the Pride took 11 of the next 13 points. The Huskies finally caught a break off back-to-back shots in the paint by Tramble, but the Pride was quick to answer back. They hit a jumper before a fastbreak 3-pointer. As the shot fell, the scoreboards in the Cabot Center shut off, leading to an unexpected break in play. After the pause, no points were scored for the rest of the quarter.
After Hofstra kicked off the final quarter with five straight points, the Huskies finally started to play with the urgency and hustle they had been missing, scoring 10 straight and notching three steals off a successful full-court press. Hofstra took a timeout in the middle of the Huskies’ run to recollect themselves, but it proved unsuccessful as the Huskies took four points off steals after the break.
The Huskies cut the Pride’s once 23-point lead to 13. The teams exchanged baskets before heading to another timeout called by Hofstra.
Out of the break, a sole free throw by Simmons was the only point for the next two minutes until the teams exchanged shots in the paint. A 3-pointer by Hofstra would be the final blow with just under two minutes left, handing the team a 62-46 win to end Northeastern’s regular season.
The twelfth-seeded Huskies will be back in action in the CAA tournament against No. 13 University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks (6-23, 2-16 CAA) March 11 at 2 p.m. in Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, UNCW beat Northeastern 69-67 on the road Jan. 2 for one of the team’s only conference wins.
