Tournament notes packet
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All-CAA release (3/13)

After an historic regular season, the Northeastern women's basketball team (17-12, 10-8 CAA) begins postseason play with a quarterfinal matchup in the 2013 CAA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Jani-King vs. Hofstra (13-16, 9-9 CAA) on Friday afternoon in Upper Marlboro, Md. The Huskies, the tournament's fourth seed, will look to go 3-0 this year against fifth-seeded HU. Tip-off from the Show Place Arena is set for 2:30 p.m.

Last Time Out
Despite 18 points from Deanna Kerkhof, Northeastern was plagued by 19 turnovers and saw UNCW connect on 12 3-pointers to pull out a 68-64 victory in the regular season finale on March 10. The Seahawks got 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds from Tawanna Lee in the win, while Jessica Freeman knocked down five of UNCW's triples in an 18-point effort.  Kerkhof was joined in double figures for NU by Kashaia Cannon and Amencie Mercier, who eached chipped in 12 points. Cannon hit two 3-pointers in the game, giving her 77 on the year, a new single-season program record. A'lece Mark led the Huskies on the glass with a career-high eight rebounds.

Painting the Pride
Hofstra faces Northeastern on Friday afternoon for the second consecutive time, after closing its regular season with a trip to Boston on Wednesday, March 6. All-CAA first team member Shante Evans led the Pride in the 88-81 loss with 21 points and 17 rebounds. HU's all-time leader in both categories, Evans averages a double-double, scoring 16.7 points a game and pulling down a CAA-best 11.7 rebounds a contest, eighth in the nation. Her 16.7 points a game are fifth in the conference, and she ranks ninth league-wide with a 47.3 field goal percentage. Anma Onyeuku scores 9.9 points a game on 51.8 percent shooting from the floor, the second-best mark in the CAA. Andreana Thomas adds 8.9 points and a league-high 6.7 assists a game, the ninth-best mark in the country. CAA Defensive Player of the Year Candace Bond also chips in 7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds a game, coming in at second in the CAA with 2.7 steals a game.

Remember my last...
Northeastern and Hofstra take to the court for the 32nd time on Friday afternoon, with NU holding an 18-13 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 better since the squads reconvened in the CAA, winning nine of 16 matchups under the Colonial banner. The Huskies have won the last three installments of the series, however, including sweeping the regular season series this year with wins in Hempstead on Feb. 7 and in Boston on March 6. In the February game, Jewel Tunstull hit a game-winning hook shot with one second remaining to seal a 59-57 victory, while A'lece Mark led the Huskies with 16 points. In the most recent contest, Northeastern took home an 88-81 decision on the Senior Day of Kashaia Cannon, Christine Huber and Deanna Kerkhof. The three seniors combined for 48 points in the win, including a game-high 24 from Kerkhof.
 
Tournament time
Northeastern will be making its eighth appearance in the CAA tournament in its eighth year in the conference, and will play in the quarterfinals for the fourth time. The Huskies last reached the quarterfinals of the tournament in 2010, winning an 8/9 game against Georgia State before falling to top seed Old Dominion. Last year, Northeastern was the tournament's 10th seed and fell, 70-60, to No. 7 George Mason. This year NU goes into the tournament as the fourth seed, the highest ever in the CAA tournament. Overall, it is NU's highest seed in a postseason tournament since earning the two seed in the 1999 America East Championship, winning the tournament and making the program's lone NCAA appearance. The Huskies are 13-16 all-time in postseason play, including a 4-7 mark in the CAA Championship.  

Husky Honors
At the CAA's women's basketball awards banquet on Wednesday, Northeastern took home five conference awards, headlined by Daynia La-Force's Coach of the Year nod. La-Force becomes the first NU coach to win the award under the CAA banner, and the second coach to win a Coach of the Year award in program history. Joy Malchodi took home the honor in the Seaboard Conference in 1985-86 and '86-'87, before winning it in the America East in 1992-93. This year, La-Force led the Huskies to more than double last season's win total, going from eight in 2011-12 to 17 this season. She also won more conference games (10) than NU has won since joining the CAA. Also honored with postseason awards were Deanna Kerkhof, who was named All-CAA second team, and Kashaia Cannon and Jewel Tunstull, who took home All-CAA third team honors. Kerkhof also received her third consecutive All-Academic first team nod.

Dazzling Deanna
After missing three games from Feb. 21-28 with an injury, Deanna Kerkhof returned on March 3 against Old Dominion and has been on a tear ever since. After leading all players with 21 points against ODU, Kerkhof one-upped herself by pouring in 24 to again lead all players in the win against Hofstra. It marked the first time this season the Wallaceburg, Ontario native has scored 20 or more in back-to-back contests, and the third time she has turned the trick in her outstanding career. By scoring 18 points against UNCW on March 9, Kerkhof was  named CAA Player of the Week on March 11, her first weekly conference honor of the season. With 1,138 points in her four years on Huntington Ave., Kerkhof is the 14th leading scorer in program history. She is also one of the most prolific 3-point shooters to ever don the Red and Black, as her 206 career trifectas are third all-time and her 36.1 percent from distance currently sits at fourth. With 71 made triples last year and 72 this year, Kerkhof has two of the five highest single-season totals in NU history, and her 82.2 free throw percentage this year would stand as the fourth highest all-time.

Kash Money
Redshirt senior Kashaia Cannon has had a tremendous bounce-back season this year after sitting out the 2011-12 campaign after offseason surgery. The Providence, R.I. native is second on the team and 10th in the CAA with 13.6 points per game, and has posted three 20-point games this year. The southpaw sharpshooter connects on 41.2 of her 3-pointer attempts, the second-best mark in the CAA and the 18th highest in the country. That single-season mark would currently stand as the fifth-best in program history.

Sticky hands
Northeastern has picked up double-digit steals 18 times this year, forcing 20 or more turnovers on 14 occassions, with a season-high 29 twice. NU leads the league and is 45th nationally with 10.5 swipes a contest. The Huskies have won or tied the turnover battle in 10 of their last 13 games, and recorded a season-low nine turnovers at UNCW on Feb. 24. Kerkhof (2.1), Mark (1.9) and Mercier (1.9) are among the top-10 basketball thieves in the conference, with Kerkhof leading the charge at seventh. Mercier turned in the best individual performance of the year, snagging seven steals at Temple on Nov. 17.

Terrific Tunstull
Junior center Jewel Tunstull has proven herself to be one of the premier post players in the CAA this year. The Brooklyn native is 13th in the CAA in scoring (12.6 ppg) but leads the league in field goal percentage (56.3%) for the second straight season. She is also fifth in the conference in both rebounding (8.7 rpg) and blocked shots (1.3 bpg). Tunstull has shown a clutch gene as well this season, hitting game-winning or game-tying shots on multiple occasions. Her lay-in on Jan. 10 against William & Mary in the final 30 seconds tied the game and forced overtime, eventually leading to a Northeastern victory. In NU's next game on Jan. 13, Tunstull again hit a game-tying shot in the final minute, capping an 8-0 run to tie the game before a heartbreaking JMU buzzer beater. Her clutchest performance came on Feb. 7 at Hofstra. With the game tied at 57-all, Tunstull gained possession deep in the lane and had her initial shot blocked. After gaining her own offensive rebound, she fired up a hook shot with one second left on the clock to seal the NU victory.

Sophomore stalwarts
Playing mostly bench roles last season, sophomore guards Amencie Mercier and A'lece Mark have been fixtures in the Northeastern starting five this season and have keyed NU to success. Both rank among the top assist leaders in the CAA, with Mark (3.6 apg) coming it at third and Mercier (3.4 apg) placing fifth. They are both also top-10 in steals and assist to turnover ratio. Mark cracked the league's top-30 scorers midway through this season, and her 9.3 points per game place her 28th in the conference. She is also fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (37.8%) and 15th from the charity stripe (72.4%). Combined, the duo have posted 16 double-digit scoring games, both setting career-highs in points this year. Mark tallied 19 against Rhode Island on Jan. 3, and a week later Mercier poured in 15 against William & Mary on Jan. 10. Both guards have played in all 59 games since they arrived on campus last season.

Three's company
Northeastern has made at least three 3-pointers in every contest, and has knocked down double-digit 3-pointers six times this season. NU connects on 8.0 trifectas a game, the 12th best mark in the country, and hits 36.4 percent of its attempts, also 12th nationally. Both of those marks are tops in the CAA. Kerkhof and Cannon lead the long ball barrage, currently both sitting in the top-five CAA and top-35 nationally in both makes and percentage. Cannon hit her 77th 3-pointer of the season on March 9, setting a single season record. Kerkhof has 72 this year, leaving her fourth shy of giving NU the two highest single season totals in the same year. As a team, Northeastern has hit 233 3-pointers this season, breaking the former program record (228) set last season.

Balancing act
Northeastern has seen five players hit double figures in the scoring column three times this year, the first three times that has happened since Dec. 5, 2009.  It most recently happened vs. Hofstra on March 6. The Huskies have also seen four players hit double figures eight 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. Kerkhof and Cannon are one of two pairs of teammates (JMU's Kirby Burkholder and Tarik Hislop) to both slot into the top-ten. With Kerkhof's recent CAA Player of the Week nod, she, along with Cannon (Dec. 4) and A'lece Mark (Jan. 7), make Northeastern the only team in the conference to have three different players receive the weekly award.

Should Northeastern advance on Friday, they will play in semifinals of the tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Huskies will take on the winner of No. 1 Delaware and No. 8 George Mason/No. 9 UNCW at the Show Place Arena. The semifinals and potential finals game will all be televised by Comcast SportsNet throughout the east coast.

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