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Highlights, interviews and photo gallery from Feb. 3 win over Towson

The Northeastern women's basketball team (12-8, 5-4 CAA) opens the second half of its conference schedule on Thursday night with a trip to Long Island and the first of two matchups this year with the Hofstra Pride (10-10, 6-3 CAA). HU and NU currently sit 5th and 6th in the CAA standings, respectively, so Thursday night's matchup will be integral to the league's hierarchy going forward.

Last Time Out
The Huskies grinded out a hotly contested win over Towson on Super Sunday, dropping the Tigers 59-56. Northeastern led for nearly the entire game, going up as many as 12 in the second half. In the last five minutes of the contest, a 10-2 Towson run pulled the tigers within one in the game's final moments. Kashaia Cannon went to the line for NU with 17.2 seconds remaining to ice the win with a pair of free throws, the final two of her 11 points on the day. Deanna Kerkhof led the Huskies with 14 points, while Jewel Tunstull pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. A'lece Mark was the third Husky in double figures, scoring 13 points, including nine in the second half. Tanisha McTiller led all scorers for TU, pouring in 30 points and grabbing 12 boards.

Painting the Pride
Hofstra currently sits at 10-10 on the year in what has been a season of runs for the Pride. After winning its first game, HU dropped seven in a row, then rebounded with six victories in a row, including wins over power-six conference schools Northwestern and Ole Miss. The latter three games of the Pride's win streak opened conference play, and since then they have alternated wins and losses over their last six contests, amassing a 6-3 record in CAA play. In their last game, the Pride defeated UNCW, 75-69, behind Andreana Thomas' 23 points. Thomas leads the CAA in assists with 6.2 a game, and is third on the Pride with 9.9 points a contest. Leading the charge for Hofstra is the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Shante Evans, who averages a double-double with 17.3 points and 11.3 rebounds a game. Anma Onyeuku adds 10.2 points a game for HU, leading the CAA with a 55.5 field goal percentage. Candace Bond leads the conference in steals, swiping 2.9 a contest.

Remember my last...
Northeastern and Hofstra take to the court for the 30th time on Thursday night, with NU holding a 16-13 edge in the series. The Huskies opened up an 11-4 advantage in the all-time matchup when both teams were members of the North Atlantic and America East conferences, but the Pride have fared much better since the squads reconvened in the CAA, winning nine of 14 matchups under the Colonial banner. Last year, NU and HU split their season series, with both teams taking the home legs. After a 72-66 Pride win in Hempstead, Northeastern thumped Hofstra, 80-62, on Feb. 29 in Boston on the Senior Day of guards Jamie Conroy and Dani Iervolino. Both Conroy and Iervolino turned in huge games in the win, with Conroy dishing out 10 assists to seal an NU single season record, while Iervolino scored 17 points to tie for the Huskies lead. Jewel Tunstull also chipped in 17 with a team-high nine rebounds, and Christine Huber notched 14 and eight boards. Shante Evans led the Pride with a 28-point, 14-rebound double-double in the loss.

New York state of mind
Three Huskies will be making a trip their home state when NU visits Hofstra, as Christine Huber (North Babylon), Jewel Tunstull (Brooklyn) and Onia Webb (Bronx) all hail from the Empire State. Huber and Tunstull have been at NU since the 2010-11 season, and in that span NU is 1-3 in games played in their native state, with a win at Army and losses at Syracuse and Hofstra (2). Huber's native North Babylon is a mere 18 miles away from Hofstra's campus in Hempstead, while Tunstull's Brooklyn is 20 miles and Webb's Bronx is 23.

Kerkhof's 1,000
Senior captain Deanna Kerkhof hit the 1,000 career point milestone on Jan. 24, reaching the mark with a first half three pointer against Drexel. Kerkhof's milestone made her the 15th player in program history to reach the mark, and the first since Ashlee Feldman in 2008-09. The Wallaceburg, Ontario native is the second player to reach the millenial mark under Daynia La-Force. She is also among Northeastern's all-time leaders in three-pointers made, where she currently sits at third with 191.

Clutch Kash
Redshirt-senior captain Kashaia Cannon hit a pair of game icing free throws in the final moments of Sunday's win over Towson, drilling two from the line with 17.2 seconds remaining to seal the win. She also hit a triad of three-pointers in the win, and the southpaw sharpshooter has knocked down a three-pointer in every game this year, hitting two or more 16 times. She has also tickled the twine from deep five times on two separate occassions, and shoots 38.5 percent from long range, 40th nationally.

Everybody Scores!
In the win over Rhode Island on Jan. 3 and the loss vs. Drexel on Jan. 24, Northeastern saw five players hit double figures in the scoring column, the first two times that has happened since Dec. 5, 2009.  The Huskies have seen four players hit double figures six times this season. NU currently has three players, Deanna Kerkhof, Kashaia Cannon and Jewel Tunstull, averaging more than 10 a game. All three are ranked among the top-15 scorers in the CAA, making the Huskies the only team in the league with three players in the top-15.

Short streak snappers
After ending a two-game slide with the win over Towson, the Huskies have not allowed a losing skid to go beyond two games this year. After dropping back-to-back contests in Miami at the FIU Sun & Fun Classic, NU rattled off three straight victories. Following consecutive losses to James Madison and Delaware, NU went on the road and won two in a row against CAA foes. The Red and Black's biggest rebound from a loss came after falling at Temple on Nov. 17, as they responded by winning five in a row.

Offensive and Defendant
Northeastern as a team ranks near the top of the CAA in the most important of categories. The Huskies are second the league with 66.5 points a game, thanks in part to the league's second-best field goal percentage (41.2) and top three-point field goal percentage (36.8). NU is fifth in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a 37.2 percent mark from the field, supported by the Huskies' 3.9 blocks a game, fourth in the league, and 10.3 steals, which are also fourth.

Three's company
Northeastern's 11 made trifectas on Sunday vs. Towson marked the fifth time this year they have made double digit long balls in a game. On the year, NU's 8.2 threes a contest are first in the CAA and 12th nationally, while the Huskies shoot 36.8 percent from beyond the arc, best in the league and 10th best in the country. That barrage is led by Kerkhof's 25th ranked 39.9 percent mark and Cannon's 38.5 percent, 40th nation-wide.  Those two, along with A'lece Mark (40 percent), give NU three of the CAA's top five three-point shooters.

Terrific Tandems
Northeastern is the only team in the CAA to have two players ranked at the top of several categories. Amencie Mercier and A'lece Mark both average 3.3 assists a game, making them the only teammates to both appear in the CAA's top-six assist leaders. The sophomore duo are also the only teammates both in the top-five in assist to turnover ratio. Kerkhof and Cannon are the only teammates both in the top-five in made threes, with Kerkhof second at 2.8 and Cannon fourth with 2.5. Jewel Tunstull and Christine Huber both swat 1.3 blocks a game, making them the only teammates both in the top-seven.

After Thursday's game at Hofstra, Northeastern returns home to host UNCW on Sunday, Feb. 10. The contest will be Northeastern's breast cancer awareness game, and the first 100 students in attendance will receive a free pink t-shirt. Coach La-Force will also donate $1 to breast cancer research for every student in attendance. Following the game, Northeastern will honor its alumni with a reception in the Alumni Center at 716 Columbus Place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.