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Fresh off its season opening three-game road trip, the Northeastern women's basketball team heads to the friendly confines of Solomon Court to open its 2012-13 home campaign on Tuesday night. NU is 2-4 in home openers under Daynia La-Force, and went 6-7 at Solomon last season. Tip-off tonight is set for 7 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Huskies battled back from a nine-point second half deficit to tie the contest late in the final period, but were unable to overcome a 27 point, 10 rebound performance from Victoria Macaulay and dropped a 63-59 decision at Temple on Saturday evening.
Kashaia Cannon led the Huskies in scoring with 16 points, marking the second straight game she hit that mark.
Amencie Mercier set career marks across the board for NU, scoring 11 points, dishing out five assists and grabbing a game-high seven steals.
Breaking down BU
The cross-town Terriers come into Tuesday night sitting at 2-1 on the year, with victories over Boston College and Richmond to go along with a three-point loss to No. 14 West Virginia. All three of BU's opening season contests were played at home. Chantell Alford leads the offensive attack for the Terriers, averaging 21.7 points a contest to go along with 6.7 rebounds per game, third on the club. Mo Moran mans the point for BU, averaging 12.0 points and 6.7 assists a contest. Rashidat Agboola joins Moran and Alford in double figures with 10.0 points a game and leads the squad with 8.7 rebounds a contest, while Whitney Turner chips in 6.0 points and 7.0 rebounds. The Terriers have outscored opponents by an average of 59.7-55.7 in the early going.
The Battle of Boston
Northeastern and its Comm Ave-counterpart Terriers have squared off 70 times in the past, the most match-ups between NU and any other team. The next closest is New Hampshire, who has taken on NU 59 times. Boston University holds a 39-31 edge in the all-time series, including winning five of the last six contests. The former America East rivals met last year at BU's Case Gym on Nov. 22, with the Terriers coming away with a 75-65 victory.
Deanna Kerkhof led all scorers with 24 points for NU, setting at the time a career best. The teams combined to shoot the lights out from deep, collectively knocking down 27 three-pointers and both shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc.
Gone but not forgotten
Formerly a member of the America East conference, Northeastern has met its current members a combined 313 times, with an overall record of 145-168. Last year the Huskies split two contests with teams from the league, losing to Boston U. and defeating Vermont. NU has faced at least two teams from the conference every year since leaving the league prior to 2005-06, and La-Force is 6-9 against them in non-conference play. This will be the first year since leaving the conference that NU faces only one A.E. team.
Matching up with Mass.
Northeastern is 107-111 all-time when facing opponents who also call the Bay State home, with a 79-94 mark against those programs which are also Division-I. Against other teams from Greater Boston (Boston College, Boston State (now UMass Boston), Boston U., Brandeis, Harvard and Tufts) the Huskies have compiled a 72-64 record.
CAA's Finest
Several Huskies rank among the top-ten in the league in a multitude of categories. Kerkhof is fifth in scoring (14.7 ppg), tenth in rebounds (8.0 rpg), eighth in field goal percentage (46.7%), fifth in the three-point field goal percentage (44.4%) and third in minutes played (35.3).
Jewel Tunstull is eighth in rebounding (8.3 rpg), fifth in field goal percentage (50.0%) and tied with teammate
Christine Huber for sixth in blocked shots (4).
Kashaia Cannon is eighth in scoring (13.3 ppg) and fourth in three point field goal percentage (45.0%).
Amencie Mercier is fourth in assists (3.3 apg), second in steals (9) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
Defensive Impressive
Northeastern held its first two opponents this season to 50 points or less, the first time they have done that in back-to-back games since 2009, when they locked down UNCW and George Mason on Jan. 15 and 18. The last time the Huskies held two opponents to 50 or less to start a season was 1984, when they turned in the feat in season opening victories over Fairfield and Maryland. On the year, NU allows 52.7 points a game, the fifth best mark in the CAA. The Huskies are third in the league in scoring margin with a +8.0 mark, and second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a paltry 31.4 percent from the floor. NU also comes in at second in the conference in blocks (13) and fourth in steals (33).
Triple Threat
Northeastern had a strong penchant for the three-pointer last season, draining 228, a school record. NU's 7.6 made long balls per game were 11th nationally and first in the CAA. This year the Huskies are on pace to outdo themselves, averaging 8.3 treys a game, the highest mark in the conference. The Huskies are second in the league in three point field goal percentage, at 35.7 percent. NU has been strong on the perimeter on both ends, holding opponents to just 20.0 percent shooting from deep, second in the CAA. Kerkhof and Cannon both rank in the Northeastern annals among all-time three point shooters, currently sitting at fifth and eighth, repectively. The duo are both shooting over 40 percent from three this season, each among the top-ten in the conference.
Career Highs All Around
Every returner from 2010-11 set a new career high in scoring in 2011-12, and three of those returners are back for more in 2012-13. Kerkhof and Tunstull both set their personal bests against William & Mary on Jan. 29, 2012, as Kerkhof dropped 29 while Tunstull added 22.
Christine Huber set her career mark with 25 points against George Mason in the CAA tournament on March 8, 2012. Tunstull also set a new career-high by pulling down 19 rebounds at UNCW on Jan. 5, 2012, the third highest single-game total in NU history. Huber tied her all-time mark in boards with 14, matched at Old Dominion on Feb. 23, 2012. The Huskies have already started off 2012-13 in a similar vein, as Kerkhof grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds in the loss at Eastern Michigan on Nov. 11.
Amencie Mercier set three new career-highs on Nov. 17 at Temple, with 11 points, five assists and seven steals.
A'lece Mark dished out a personal best six assists in the Nov. 15 win at La Salle.
Fans unable to make it out to Solomon Court can tune into a free, high definition broadcast at GoNU.com/xstream. Fans at home or at Solomon are also encouraged to join the conversation on social media by tagging tweets about the game with the #GoNU hashtag.
Following Tuesday's contest, Northeastern stays home to welcome Dartmouth to Solomon Court on Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 12 p.m.
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