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BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Northeastern Huskies suffered an 81-74 setback at the hands of the Florida Atlantic University Owls in their second game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 29.
 
Head coach Kelly Cole's squad put together an outstanding second-half comeback attempt that fell just short as the clock winded down at FAU Arena. The team scored 41 points in the second stanza behind solid shooting performances from the entire team.
 
Sophomore center Francesa Sally recorded her first career double-double in the loss after scoring 18 points and corralling 14 rebounds. Over her last 60 minutes of action, the Denver, Colorado, native has scored 29 points and collected 20 rebounds. Her presence throughout the game was critical to the team's overall production as several buckets from Sally kept the Huskies within striking distance of the Owls.
 
Along with Sally, Northeastern relied on the play of A'lece Mark, Amencie Mercier, Samantha DeFreese and Kazzidy Stewart throughout the game.
 
Mark finished tied with Sally for the team high in points with 18. DeFreese had a strong second half, scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds. At the end of the game the junior forward had 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
Stewart, coming off the bench, was able to contribute 10 points; while Mercier added a game-high five assists to the stat sheet.
 
The offense generated excellent looks over the course of the game, but the team was unable to connect on most of its shots, finishing with a 27 of 72 mark from the floor. From beyond the arc, the Huskies shot a strong 36 percent connecting on seven of their 19 shots from downtown. Mark paced the Huskies going two of four from downtown.
 
After a tough opening half for the Cole's squad on the offensive end, Northeastern came out hot to start the game's final 20 minutes. They found themselves trailing by as many 12 early in the second half, but the team hung tight and went on 14-5 run over eight minutes to bring the score within two points.
 
NU would be just a bucket away from tying the game on eight possessions over the remaining nine minutes, but was't able to even the score.
 
With just less than three minutes remaining in the game and the Huskies down by three points, Mercier shot a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, but the shot didn't fall. Sally grabbed the offensive board – one of eight offensive rebounds on the night for the sophomore – and found a cutting Mark for a contested layup that resulted in a foul. The senior guard connected on both attempts to bring her team within one point, but the Owls answered with a jumper of their own to secure the lead.
 
Florida Atlantic held on over the game's final two minutes en route to the victory.
 
Northeastern received clutch buckets from Mark, DeFreese and Sally down the stretch, but wouldn't be able to surpass the Owls on the scoreboard.
 
The first half was a display of offense as both teams combined for 76 points. Northeastern was paced by Sally's 10 points and six rebounds. Behind Sally were Stewart and Mark, who had eight and seven points, respectively.
 
Northeastern and FAU were tied, 5-5, after both teams connected on early shots to start the action. The Owls, however, went on a 6-0 run, pushing their lead to 11-5. Cole's squad didn't blink in the midst of the run and answered with a 6-0 run of their own to even the score, 11-11.  
 
The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes, but with just under 11 minutes of action left the Huskies were behind 18-15. The Owls would close out those final minutes on a 25-18 run to push their lead to 43-33 as the first half came to an end.
 
The Huskies now have a two-week break before heading north on Saturday, Dec. 13 for a 1 p.m. showdown against the Maine Black Bears in Orono, Maine. Seven days later, head coach Kelly Cole travels across town to face a familiar foe, Harvard, on Saturday, Dec. 20.
 
Game Notes
• The Huskies lost both games in their FAU tournament appearance.
• Francesca Sally recorded the first double-double of her career in the setback.
• A'lece Mark has now scored in double-figures in three straight games. 

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