Box Score  | Post-game comments (Daynia La-Force) | GoNUxstream Game Recap

BOSTON - Using double-digit scoring nights from five players, including all three seniors honored before the game for Senior Day, the Northeastern women's basketball team (17-11, 10-7 CAA) clinched the four-seed in the upcoming CAA tournament with an 88-81 win over Hofstra (13-16, 9-9 CAA) on Wednesday night at Solomon Court.

Seniors Kashaia Cannon (Providence, R.I.), Christine Huber (North Babylon, N.Y.) and Deanna Kerkhof (Wallaceburg, Ontario) were recognized before the game playing in their penultimate game at Solomon Court, and their contributions fueled the Huskies to victory. Kerkhof used an 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 24 points, while Cannon and Huber each added 14 points and five rebounds in the triumph.

The win was the 11th of the year at home for Northeastern, a new program record. The Huskies are 11-2 at Solomon Court this year. Wednesday's contest was a preview of the 2013 CAA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Jani-King, as Northeastern has clinched the four seed and Hofstra is locked into the fifth seed.

Joining the seniors in double figures were junior center Jewel Tunstull (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who scored 16 points with five rebounds and three blocks, and sophomore Amencie Mercier (Pierrefonds, Quebec), who scored 10 to go along with a career-high eight assists. Sophomore A'lece Mark (Springfield, Mass.) chipped in five points and seven assists, while freshmen Tiffany Montagne (Jackson, N.J.) and Samantha Defreese (Bergenfield, N.J.) combined for five points.

The Pride got a 21-point, 17-rebound double-double from Shante Evans, and Candace Bond added 14 points with Andreana Thomas chipping in 12 and nine assists. Hofstra won the rebounding battle, 45-29, but was plagued by 20 turnovers which offset its 20 assists and 43.5 percent shooting from the floor.

The Huskies took a six-point lead into halftime, and ballooned their lead to as many as 21 in the second half. A late Pride rally closed HU to within five in the game's final minutes, but strong free throw shooting from Kerkhof allowed NU to hold on and seal the win. The Huskies shot 50 percent (31-62) from the floor and 52.4 percent (11-21) from 3-point range in the win.

The two sides set a torrid pace to the game from the early going, racing out to a 7-4 score after less than three minutes of play. Huber tied the game with a three-pointer from the top of the arc four minutes in to send the game into the first media timeout knotted at seven apiece.

The scoring blitz continued well into the first half. Trailing 19-18 with less than 11 minutes remaining, Cannon took a pass from Mercier and drilled an three from the right wing to give Northeastern a 21-19 lead going into the second media timeout.

Hofstra responded with a 5-0 run of its own to take a 24-22 lead with 9:18 remaining, but Kerkhof snapped the Pride's scoring streak with her second trey of the night to make it 25-24 Huskies.

The Red and Black pushed the margin to as many as eight points with 2:12 left in the opening half and took a 48-42 lead into halftime, coming within 26 points of matching the full game point total of the team's last meeting on Feb. 7 (a 59-57 Northeastern victory in Hempstead, N.Y.). The Huskies' 48 first-half points were their most in CAA play and second-most overall this season.

Kerkhof and Cannon led all scorers after the opening frame with 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Tunstull chipped in eight, Huber added seven and Mercier six. The Huskies shot 47 percent (15-32) from the floor, including 58 percent (7-12) from beyond the arc.

The back-and-forth tone of the contest continued as the teams traded buckets out of the halftime break before the Pride used a 6-2 run to cut Northeastern's lead to just a basket. But the Huskies responded with a 12-0 run of their own, including a pair of three-pointers from Kerkhof and Huber, to break the game open at 62-48 with less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation.

After Northeastern stretched its lead to as many as 19 points, the Pride used a 9-0 run in just 1:19 to cut its deficit to 9 points, its fewest since the opening of the second half, with just over six minutes remaining.

Hofstra later cut the Northeastern margin to seven points, courtesy of six straight points by Evans, with two minutes remaining. Mercier responded with a deep jumper to restore the lead to nine, before Bond hit a free throw and a three-pointer to lessen the deficit to just five points at 86-81 with under a minute remaining.

The Huskies survived the late rally after a pair of Kerkhof free throws with 21 seconds left preserved the win.

Up next, Northeastern closes its regular season with the final tuneup before the 2013 CAA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Jani-King. The Huskies will welcome the UNCW Seahawks to Solomon Court on Saturday, March 9 for a 2 p.m. tip-off.

Game Notes:
- 88 points are the second-highest total for NU this year, and the highest in CAA play
- Deanna Kerkhof scored 20-plus points for the second straight game, the first time she has done that this season and the third time in her career
- Kerkhof is averaging 22.5 points a game in her two contests since returning from an injury
- Eight free throws mark a season high for Kerkhof
- Amencie Mercier set a career-high with nine assists
- 11 home wins this season set a program record
- The Huskies have notched double-digit steals 17 times this year, and forced 20 or more turnovers 13 times
- NU has seen five players hit double figures three times this year
- Northeastern last swept Hofstra in the regular season series in 2008-09