Box Score
Post-game comments (Daynia La-Force)

PHILADELPHIA --The Northeastern women's basketball team battled until the end, erasing a nine-point second half deficit, but 27 points and 10 rebounds from Victoria Macaulay proved to be too much to handle and the Temple Owls picked up a 63-59 victory on Saturday evening at the Liacouras Center.

With the loss, NU splits its two-game Big 5 road trip and falls to 1-2 on the young season. All three contests to open the season were true road games, marking the first time that has happened during the tenure of Daynia La-Force.

Sophomore Amencie Mercier (Pierrefonds, Quebec) had a career day for the Huskies, setting new personal high marks in points (11), steals (7) and assists (5). Her seven steals are the most for an NU player this year. It was also the first double-digit scoring game of the point guard's career.

Redshirt-senior captain Kashaia Cannon (Providence, R.I.) led Northeastern in scoring with 16 points, while junior Jewel Tunstull (Brooklyn, N.Y.) joined her in double figures with 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, also swatting three blocks. Senior captain Deanna Kerkhof (Wallaceburg, Ontario) chipped in eight points and six rebounds, marking the first time this year she has been held to single digits in scoring.

Temple led by four at halftime and by as many as nine in the second period, but a furious effort from the Huskies had the game tied at 41-all with eight minutes to play. Foul trouble and turnovers plagued NU in their comeback attempt, and NU never led in the contest. Temple out-rebounded the Huskies 42-33 on the day, and shot 41.1 percent from the field, to NU's 36.4 mark.

The 27 points scored by Macaulay are the most allowed to a single player by the Huskies this year, and Temple is first team to score more than 50 points against NU. Natasha Thames also had a double-double for the Owls with 13 points and 12 boards, and Erica Covile chipped in 11 points.

MacAulay scored the game's first basket for the Owls, spinning at the free throw line to knock down a mid-range jumper. Cannon responded for the Huskies by scoring NU's first four points, before another basket from MacAulay sent the contest to its first media timeout at 14:49 with Temple up 8-4.

A Kerkhof triple cut the lead to 10-7 at 13:35, before four quick points from Macaulay had the Owls up five at the 10:54 stoppage. An offensive rebound and put-back by Tunstull following the break had NU back within three, but six straight points for MacAulay had the Temple lead inflated to seven at the penultimate stoppage of the first half at 7:28.

After a Tunstull jumper connected, Temple scored two straight baskets, leading to a timeout by Northeastern with 5:05 remaining in the opening stanza. Cannon hit a runner coming out of the stop, and the lead was slimmed to 24-17 at the half's final timeout with 3:25 remaining.

A 10-3 run overall by the Huskies slimmed the lead to two with 90 seconds to play in the half and forced a Temple timeout at 1:13. A Mercier lay-in after a Temple bucket with 30 seconds left had the lead back to two, before a pair of Temple free throws in the half's waning seconds sent the Owls to the break leading 31-27.

Cannon led the first half efforts for NU with nine points, while MacAulay dropped 17 for the Owls to lead all scorers.

NU got off to a hot start in the second half, with Tunstull blocking a Macaulay shot before Cannon knocked down a three for the half's first basket. A pair of Temple baskets stretched its lead to five at the first media break with 15:24 to play, and another basket sent it to seven and led to a La-Force timeout with 13:26 to play.

Freshman Tiffany Montagne (Jackson, N.J.) hit her first career free throw to make it 39-31 with 12:49 to play, before NU's full court press led to a Temple timeout. The score remained there with 11:57 to play at under-12 media stoppage. Baskets from Tunstull and Mercier had the lead slimmed to four, and Temple took another timeout leading 39-35 with 10:42 to play.

Kerkhof connected from deep immediately after the break, cutting the lead to one and capping NU's 8-0 spurt. After Macaulay pushed the lead back to three, sophomore A'lece Mark (Springfield, Mass.) hit her first three of the game and tied the contest at 41-all with eight and a half minutes to play.

Temple responded to NU tying the contest with six straight points, going up 47-41 with seven minutes left. A Mercier hook shot in the paint stopped the run, and a pair of Cannon free throws had the game back to one possession. Kerkhof knocked down both ends of a 1-and-1  to keep the Temple lead to two at 49-47, and La-Force took a timeout with 4:50 to play.

Five straight points from Temple sent their lead back to seven, before Tunstull ended the run with a lay-up with 3:24 remaining. A Macaulay turnaround jumper with under three minutes to play sent the lead back to seven, before Mercier converted a three-point play to make it 56-52 with two minutes left. Natasha Thames returned the favor with an old fashioned triple of her own, sending it back to seven.

Cannon drew a foul in the act of launching a three-pointer, getting to the line and sinking two of three. A Mark runner had the game back to one possession under a minute at 59-56, before Erica Covile sunk a pair of free throws to make it a five point game with 42 seconds left, effectively icing the contest.

The Huskies next head back to the Hub to kick off their 2012-13 home slate with the Terriers of Boston University. NU and its cross-town rival have met 68 times in the past, and the 69th installment is set for Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.