Box Score

NORFOLK, VA. - The Northeastern women's basketball team (13-10, 6-6 CAA) got 20-point efforts from both Jewel Tunstull and Kashaia Cannon, but fell in the final minute at Old Dominion (17-9, 8-6 CAA), 70-67, on Sunday afternoon at the Ted Constant Center.

Tunstull (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double for NU, leading all players on the glass, while Cannon (Providence, R.I.) hit a game-high five 3-pointers en route to a 20-point performance in the setback. Tunstull shot 9-of-11 from the field and also added three blocks.

Old Dominion was led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Jackie Cook, while Shae Kelly added 19 and nine. The Lady Monarchs held a 37-32 edge in the rebounding column, and assisted on 23 of 26 made field goals in the victory, which snapped a three-game losing skid.

Deanna Kerkhof (Wallaceburg, Ontario) was the third Husky in double figures with 13 points, also posting team-highs with five assists and five steals. Her five swipes tie a career-high, as NU posted 16 steals, also tying a season-best. The 16 steals led to a 20-15 advantage in turnovers.

Filling out the stat sheet for NU were sophomore A'lece Mark (Springfield, Mass.) who posted six points, four assists and two steals, and senior Christine Huber (North Bablyon, N.Y.) who posted eight points, four rebounds and four steals.

The Huskies shot 45.2 percent from the floor in the game (28-62), but just 29.4 percent (5-17) from beyond the arc, compared to ODU's 50 percent (26-52) mark from the floor and 40 percent (8-20) from three.

Northeastern led by one at halftime, in a hotly contested game that saw neither side ever lead by double figures. The Huskies trailed for much of the second half, going down as many as eight, but pulled ahead in the final two minutes before ODU got a clutch three from Galaisha Goodhope with 1:28 remaining to put the Lady Monarchs on top for good.

Cook scored the game's first five points, jumping the Lady Monarchs out to an early lead. Tunstull got NU on the board with a pair of free throws, then hit the Huskies' first fedd goal off a feed from Mark. Cook's second triple of the day gave ODU a 12-6 lead, but Cannon responded with a 3-pointer of her own to send NU to the game's first media stop at 15:47 trailing by three.

ODU scored five straight after the stop to go ahead by eight, before Kerkhof laid one in and Mark knocked a down pair from the line to get back within four. The lead stayed there and the game went to the 11:55 stop with the Lady Monarchs up 21-17. A Huber steal and coast-to-coast lay-in and a long Tunstull jump shot after the stop tied it for the first time since 0-0 at 21-all, midway through the first half.

The teams traded baskets over the game's next few minutes, before a Tunstull lay-in at 5:16 gave Northeastern a 27-26 lead, its first of the day. Tunstull connected again on an offensive rebound put-back, putting the Red and Black up by three before a stop at 3:55.

NU kept its lead at three over the game's next minute, before a three for ODU's Mairi Buchan tied the contest at 31-all.  After a La-Force timeout with 1:45 remaining in the frame, Kelly put the Lady Monarchs back on top, but Cannon responded with her second 3-pointer of the half to send the Huskies to the break leading 34-33. Tunstull led all players with 12 points and seven rebounds in the first frame.

Cannon and Cook traded baskets to start the second half and keep NU's lead at one, before Cannon drilled her third trifecta of the day and gave the Huskies their largest lead of the day at four. The Lady Monarchs responded with six straight, taking a 41-39 lead and forcing a La-Force timeout with 16:32 remaining in regulation.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes, before a pair of Cook free throws put the Lady Monarchs up 52-47 at 12:03, ODU's largest lead since the game's opening minutes. A Cannon three pulled NU back within two, and then a three-point play the old fashioned way made it 54-53 ODU at 8:57.

ODU pushed its lead back up to six following the 7:58 media stop, and a Tiffany Minor three gave the Lady Monarchs their largest lead of the day at 62-55 before a La-Force timeout at 6:45. A Tunstull lay-in cut it to six with four and a half minutes remaining, forcing an ODU timeout, before Cannon's fifth long ball of the day made it a three-point game before the final media stop of the game at 3:25.

A Huber lay-in after an ODU timeout at 2:34 pulled the Huskies within one, before a Kerkhof basket gave NU a 66-65 lead with under two minutes remaining.

Goodhope hit her lone three of the day for the Lady Monarchs to put them on top by two with under 90 seconds remaining, and then went to the line and missed the front end of a one-and-one with 22 seconds to play. Kerkhof went to the line for NU with 8.1 seconds remaining and hit one of two, then sent Minor to the line to hit a pair with seven seconds left. A Cannon three with time expiring wouldn't go and the Lady Monarchs held on.

Up next, Northeastern returns home to close out its season series with Georgia State on Thursday, Feb. 21. Game-time at Solomon Court is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be NU's breast cancer awareness game. The team will wear pink socks and shooting shirts, and Coach La-Force will donate $1 to breast cancer research for every student in attendance.

Game Notes:
- Sunday's game marks the end of a Nemo-induced three-game road swing for NU (a home game vs. UNCW originally scheduled for Feb. 10 was moved to March 9.), tied for the longest stretch away from home this year for NU after opening its season with three road games
- Kashaia Cannon has a three-pointer in every game this season, two or more in 19 and four or more six times.
- Cannon has three 20-point games this year, all on the road in conference play
- Jewel Tunstull notched her fourth double-double of the season and then 10th of her career
- Tunstull's 20-point game marked her second this season and the seventh of her career
- Deanna Kerkhof was held without a 3-pointer for the first time this season, but tied a career-high with five steals
- Northeastern's 16 steals on the day tie a season-high (Dec. 5 vs. Holy Cross)
- NU has accumulated double-digit swipes 14 times this year