Box Score

BOSTON— Despite a season-high 23 points from senior center Jewel Tunstull, the Northeastern women's basketball team closed out its non-conference slate with a 75-66 loss to Albany Saturday afternoon.

Tunstull added 13 rebounds to her well-rounded performance, good for her seventh double-double of the season. A'lece Mark joined the senior in double-figure scoring with 18 points, Kazzidy Stewart tallied 10, Amencie Mercier logged seven, while Tiffany Montagne and Samantha DeFreese chipped in eight, collectively.

Megan Craig set the pace for the Great Danes, leading all scorers with 33 points. Sarah Royals tallied 15 points, while reigning America East Player of the Week Shereesha Richards added 13.

Montagne got the Huskies on the board first after launching a 3-pointer just 15 seconds into the game. The teams exchanged baskets through two media timeouts until Albany hit three consecutive shots to pull ahead, 19-14. Tunstull and Mark slowed the Albany offense with three free throws, but Albany strung together a 12-2 surge for a 31-19 advantage.

NU responded with a small 5-1 run of its own, but could not come closer than seven points. A layup from Mark closed out the first frame with the Huskies trailing, 39-32.

In the first half, the Huskies shot 45 percent (9-20) from the field, 33 percent (3-9) from 3-point range and 73 percent (11-15) from the charity stripe. The Great Danes recorded 46 percent (15-33) from the floor, 14 percent (1-7) from beyond the arc, and 73 percent (8-11) from the free-throw line. Tunstull led the Huskies with 12 points and five rebounds, while Mark also notched double-figures in the first half with 10.

Despite the NU deficit, the second stanza started with even play through the first two minutes as neither team could drain back-to-back shots. With 16:39 on the clock, Mercier drained a 3-pointer to fuel a 9-2 run and close the gap to within one, 47-46.

The Huskies could not grab the lead and surrendered eight points over the next three minutes as the Great Danes extended their lead, 55-48. Albany widened its advantage to nine twice down the stretch, but the Huskies fought back to within three thanks to a Stewart trey.

Northeastern ran into foul trouble in the final minutes of the contest as four Huskies fouled out during the game. Albany drew Mark's fifth foul of the game to end the contest, 75-66, with consecutive free-throws.

For the game, Northeastern shot 36 percent (16-44) from the field, 29 percent (6-21) from beyond the arc, and 82 percent (28-34) from the free-throw line. Albany shot 45 percent (25-55) from the floor, 9 percent (1-11) from long range, and 69 percent (24-35) from the charity stripe.

The Huskies will kick off conference play when they head to Wilmington, N.C., to face UNCW on Thursday Jan. 9, before traveling to Towson, Md., on Sunday, Jan. 12, to take on Towson. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and 2 p.m., respectively. 

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