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BOSTON – Led by seniors Samantha DeFreese and Tiffany Montagne, the Northeastern women's basketball team held leads following every quarter except the fourth as the Huskies' bid for a season sweep against Drexel ended in a 53-49 defeat Monday night at Cabot Center.
 
DeFreese paced NU for the eighth time in scoring, posting 14 points on six-of-nine shooting while ending the evening one rebound shy of her fourth double-double of the season. She also matched her career high in assists with four.
 
Montagne netted two 3-pointers for the third time in four games en route to a season high, 10 points, and recorded Northeastern's lone steal of the night on the Huskies' first defensive possession of the game.
 
After playing all 45 minutes during the two teams' Jan. 8 game in Philadelphia, freshman Jess Genco sat for just one minute on Monday, tallying nine points, four rebounds, and one assist. Fellow rookie guard Zoe Zwerling notched six points and two rebounds, while Kazzidy Stewart and Francesca Sally each scored four points. Stewart's five boards were second best to DeFreese's nine.
 
Northeastern (7-11, 2-5 CAA) led by as many as 12 points with 6:18 to play in the third quarter, but was unable to prevent Drexel (9-9, 5-2 CAA) from obtaining second chances. The Huskies' -12 turnover margin (18-6) was the team's largest deficit of the season, while the Dragons successfully recovered 15 offensive boards to Northeastern's five.
 
Meghan Creighton led Drexel with 17 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two assists, while Sarah Curran charted 13 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. The Dragons outrebounded the Huskies, 20-11, during the second half, including a 10-2 margin on the offensive glass. Rachel Pearson also added 12 points to Drexel's total.
 
Trailing Drexel, 7-4, during a back-and-forth first quarter, Montagne pulled the Huskies level at 7-7 with her first 3-pointer of the evening at the 3:48 mark. Northeastern's two-three zone did well to contain the Dragons late in the quarter, and DeFreese's layup off Stewart's missed three gave NU the lead again at 11-10.
 
Having closed the first quarter with seven unanswered points, DeFreese's layup at 7:23 in the second capped off a 9-0 run for the Huskies during a stretch that lasted more than five minutes of game time. After Drexel had whittled Northeastern's lead to two at 16-14, Montagne buried another 3-pointer that distanced the Huskies by five, midway through the quarter. NU closed out the half on an 11-3 scoring run and appeared to be in the driver's seat leading, 27-17.
 
Backed by four straight points from DeFreese, Northeastern built a 33-21 advantage during the opening minutes of the second half. NU matched its largest lead again at 35-23, but a 6-0 run by the visitors following a Drexel called timeout trimmed the lead down to six with 4:22 remaining in the stanza. A 3-pointer by Genco helped NU retake a nine-point lead at 38-29, but turnovers by the Huskies allowed the Dragons to end the third only trailing by five.
 
Both offenses went cold during the fourth quarter, but Drexel held the upper hand, scoring seven straight points to lead 44-42 with 5:31 to play. Stewart's game-tying layup with 2:36 remaining was the Huskies' first of the final quarter, but the Dragons proceeded to go on a 7-0 scoring tear that put the game out of reach.
 
Northeastern will host Elon at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29.
 
STATS OF THE GAME
- Northeastern allowed 17 points during the first half, the fewest NU has allowed during the first half this entire season. The Huskies' previous low was 22 points, obtained on Dec. 2 against New Hampshire.
- NU kept Drexel off the foul line until the 42-second mark of the fourth quarter. The Dragons' six free-throw attempts are the second fewest Northeastern has allowed this season (NU held Maine to zero on Dec. 4).
- With 14 points on Monday, Samantha DeFreese now has 943 career points and is 57 away from reaching the Huskies' 1,000-point club.
- Tiffany Montagne has made at least two 3-pointers during three of her last four games.
- Northeastern and Drexel have split the 2015-16 regular-season series, with the road team going 2-0.
- Drexel improved its lead in the all-time series to 24-20.
- The Huskies' field goal percentage of 42.9 is the highest NU has achieved since Dec. 4 against Maine (11 games).