Box Score

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – In a game that came down to the final seconds, two-time defending league champion Delaware strung together a late run to knock off Northeastern in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball tournament on Friday evening at the Show Place Arena.

The Huskies started off with a hot 12-5 advantage through the first four minutes of play and held the lead until Delaware evened the score, 29-29, at halftime. NU went up by as much as 10 in the second frame, but Delaware chipped away at the deficit to take the lead for good with 1:31 left to play.

First-team All-CAA member Jewel Tunstull set the pace for the Huskies, recording her league-leading 14th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore forward Samantha DeFreese posted a team-best 16 points and added eight boards and two steals. Kazzidy Stewart and A'lece Mark joined in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively, to mark the eighth time this year that NU saw four Huskies in double-digits. Junior captain Amencie Mercier logged eight points and six assists, while Tanisha Hopewell and Francesca Sally notched four points, collectively, to close out the scoring column for Northeastern.

Kelsey Buchanan, a first-team All-CAA selection, poured in 21 points to lead the floor. Joy Caracciolo tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds, good for her third double-double of the year, while Courtni Green contributed 12 points in the Blue Hens' effort.

Delaware jumped on the board first and pushed a three-point advantage in the early goings, but a jumper from Hopewell triggered a 10-0 run to push NU ahead, 12-5. UD cut the lead to four after consecutive layups before an 8-2 surge, capped with a Mercier trey, gave the Huskies a 10-point advantage halfway through the first frame.

In the final six minutes of the stanza, Delaware logged 11 points, including nine free throws, and held Northeastern to just one shot to knot the game, 29-29, just seconds before halftime.

Tunstull opened the second-half scoring for NU with a layup in the paint, but UD responded with one of its own to even the contest, 31-31. The Blue Hens took a short-lived, two-point lead in the 23rd minute before back-to-back threes from Stewart ignited a 12-point run and gave the Huskies another 10-point cushion, 43-33.

A 3-pointer from Erika Brown broke Northeastern's momentum as Delaware took the next seven points to cut the deficit to just two. UD came within one with 8:50 on the clock, but the Huskies held on and maintained their advantage. The Blue Hens threatened NU's lead and evened the score at the 49 and 51 marks.

Delaware landed a layup and drew a charge on Mark to eliminate her from the game with five fouls before a free throw from Erika Brown gave UD its final lead of the contest. Tunstull and DeFreese teamed up for three points to close the gap to one, but the Blue Hens logged a single free-throw with 16 seconds left to secure a 63-61 victory.

For the game, Northeastern shot 37 percent (22-60), 35 percent (7-20) from 3-point range, and 67 percent (10-15) from the free-throw line. Delaware shot 36 percent (20-56) from the field, including 46 percent (11-24) in the second half. The Blue Hens shot 25 percent (3-12) from beyond the arc, and 69 percent (20-29) from the charity stripe. UD outrebounded the Huskies, 44-36, and enjoyed a 20-10 advantage in second-change points.

With the win, No. 2 Delaware advances to Saturday's semifinals to face third-seeded College of Charleston.

The loss concluded the Huskies' season and closes the career of lone-senior Tunstull. The 6-3 center, who earned the first All-CAA First Team honor since NU joined the conference in 2005, led the league in rebounds, free-throws made and double-doubles. She also closed out the season, leading the Huskies in seven statistical categories including a 53.3 field goal percentage to rank 45th in the NCAA and fifth on NU's all-time single-season performance list. This year, she set career-highs in four categories and posted a career scoring mark three separate times, most recently stamping 29 points against College of Charleston on February 9.

Game Notes
• Four Huskies scored in double figures for the eighth time this year.
• Samantha DeFreese led the squad in scoring for the fifth time in her career.
• Jewel Tunstull logged her league-leading 14th double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 boards.
• UD holds a 32-11 advantage in the all-time series, including a 3-0 record in CAA postseason play.

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