Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | Tickets
After playing five of its last six games on the road, the Northeastern women's basketball team (15-11, 8-7 CAA) returns home on Sunday for a three-game home stand to close the regular season. First up will be the final CAA conference game for Old Dominion (19-10, 10-7 CAA), as it will leave the conference next season. Tip-off between the Huskies and Lady Monarchs at Solomon Court is set for 2 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Huskies led by 18 at halftime and pushed their lead as high as 26 in the second half, but Towson closed regulation on a 35-9 run to force overtime, where they pulled off a 73-69 victory. The Tigers were led by a heroic 36-point, 10-rebound double-double from Tanisha McTiller, who scored all but four points in the second half and overtime. Michelle Peebles also tallied a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double for TU, and Dominique Johnson added 16 points. The Huskies were led by 17 points from
A'lece Mark and 16 from
Kashaia Cannon, who each also tallied four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Jewel Tunstull and
Christine Huber both added 10 points and six rebounds in the setback.
A look at the Lady Monarchs
Winners of three of four, Old Dominion heads to Boston for its regular season finale on Sunday afternoon. The game also marks the final conference game for ODU under the Colonial banner, as the Lady Monarchs will head to Conference USA beginning in the 2013-14 season. ODU sits at 19-10 on the year, with a 10-7 mark in CAA play. They lost their most recent contest, 77-61, at James Madison, which snapped a three-game winning streak. The Lady Monarchs are led in scoring by Jackie Cook, who averages 13.7 points a game. Reigning CAA Co-Player of the Week Shae Kelly adds 13.0 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds a game, shooting a sterling 50 percent from the floor. Kelly also leads ODU with 33 blocks and 67 steals on the year, both top-10 in the CAA. Ashley Betz-White is the Lady Monarchs' top distributor, handing out 63 assists in 27 games. As a team, ODU ranks fourth in the CAA in both scoring offense and defense, out-scoring opponents on average 64.9-58.8.
Remember my last...
Northeastern and Old Dominion have squared off 13 times in the past, with all but one meeting coming under the Colonial banner in conference play. ODU holds a commanding 11-2 edge in the all-time series, including a 70-67 victory in Norfolk on Feb. 17. In that game, the Lady Monarchs used a late three from Galaisha Goodhope to stave off a late Northeastern rally that saw NU erase an eight-point second half deficit and go ahead in the final minute. ODU was led by 21 points and eight rebounds from Jackie Cook, while Shae Kelly dropped 19 and nine rebounds. Northeastern got 20-point efforts from both
Jewel Tunstull and
Kashaia Cannon, while Tunstull added 12 rebounds and three blocks to lead all players.
Deanna Kerkhof was the third Husky in double figures, scoring 13 points and leading the Huskies with five assists and five steals.
Grand Cannon
Redshirt senior
Kashaia Cannon became the 16th player in Northeastern history to reach 1,000 career points on Feb. 24 at UNCW, eclipsing the mark with a second-half jumper. Cannon scored 16 points on Thursday at Towson, marking her 50th career double-figure scoring game. Overall, Cannon has been the top scorer for the Huskies nine times this season and 20 times in her career. The southpaw sharpshooter has hit a 3-pointer in every contest this year, and has knocked down at least two in 22 of 26 games while hitting four or more seven times. Cannon's 41.9 percentage from beyond the arc leads the team and is second in the CAA and 15th nationally.
Sticky hands
Northeastern snagged 16 steals on Feb. 17 at ODU, tying a season-high previously set vs. Holy Cross on Dec. 5. In both contests,
Deanna Kerkhof led the NU charge with a career-high five steals. Kerkhof's two steals a game are sixth in the CAA, and as a team NU ranks second in the league and 53rd nationally with 10.5 swipes a contest. The Huskies have accumulated double-digit steals 15 times this season, forcing 20 or more turnovers 12 times, with a season-high 29 twice. NU has won or tied the turnover battle in eight of its last 10 games, and recorded a season-low nine turnovers at UNCW on Feb. 24.
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 11th best mark in the country, and hits 35.7 percent of its attempts, 23rd nationally. Both of those marks are tops in the CAA. On the other side of the coin, the Huskies have held their last seven opponents to 27-of-116 shooting from beyond the arc, leading to a paltry 23.4 percent clip. In two of those games NU did not allow a single 3-pointer (Feb. 3 vs. Towson and Feb. 7 at Hofstra), a trick the Huskies have turned three times this season.
Everybody Scores!
Northeastern has seen five players hit double figures in the scoring column twice this year, the first two times that has happened since Dec. 5, 2009. The Huskies have seen four players hit double figures seven times this season, including in their most recent contest at Towson. 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, and with
A'lece Mark placing 25th with 9.5 a game, NU is the only team with four top-25 scorers.
Super Samantha
Rookie
Samantha DeFreese had the game of her career on Feb. 24 at UNCW. The Bergenfield, N.J. native set new career-highs in points (15), rebounds (5) and field goals (7), connecting on 7-of-11 from the floor. DeFreese needed only 12 minutes of action to notch her big numbers, and went on a 5-0 run by herself to give NU its first double digit lead of the day midway through the first half. The freshman also scored eight of NU's last 10 points in the first half, leading all scorers in the first frame with 13 points to help the Huskies to a nine-point advantage at the break.
Sweet home Solomon
Northeastern is 9-2 on its home floor this year, with the only losses coming to No. 18 Delaware and the CAA's second-place Drexel. The Huskies are one win shy of tying the single-season record for home wins in a season, set in 1993-94 and tied in 2003-04. The Huskies opened their home slate with seven consecutive home wins, tied for the longest single-season streak in program history. Of NU's nine home wins this year, six have been by double-digit margins, and four times at Solomon Court the Huskies have won by 20 points or more. Northeastern shoots 44.1 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range on its home floor, both marks well higher than the overall season average.
Historic Huskies
Deanna Kerkhof and
Kashaia Cannon became the 15th and 16th players to reach the 1,000 career point mark this year, the first teammates to do so in the same year since Maralene Zwarich and Francesca Vanin in 2004-05. Both Cannon and Kerkhof have etched their names among NU's most prolific 3-point shooters of all-time. Kerkhof's 196 career trifectas place her third in Northeastern annals, while Cannon's 184 slot her right behind Kerkhof in fourth. With 73 triples this year, Cannon sits three away from Melissa Kowalski's single-season record. With 31 blocks this season,
Christine Huber is third all-time (114), 15 away from second place. As it now stands, Tunstull's 8.7 rebounds would be the ninth-best single season total, and her 56.0 field goal percentage would be the third best.
Sunday afternoon will also serve as Northeastern's alumni day, which will include an alumni game prior to the game, as well as an alumni reception following the contest. The reception will take place in the Alumni Center at 716 Columbus Place.
.
