Box Score | Season Stats | Infographic

DENVER – The Northeastern women's basketball team got back to its winning ways on Tuesday afternoon at Magness Arena, outlasting the University of Denver, 72-69.

Francesca Sally was the star for the Huskies with 23 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Her perfect 8-for-8 free throw shooting afternoon helped Northeastern earn the victory in the closing seconds. Gabby Giacone also had a strong outing with 18 points (6-of-12 on field goals and 5-of-5 on free throws).

Denver's Jacqlyn Poss led the way for the Pioneers with 21 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Lauren Lovel's 5-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc kept the Pioneers close throughout the game.

Northeastern (3-8) led nearly the entire game, forcing 15 turnovers and out-rebounding the Pioneers 40 to 35. Free throws made the difference, with the Huskies shooting 18-of-20 from the charity stripe as a team, while Denver (2-9) shot 6-for-13.


QUARTER RECAPS

First quarter:
The Huskies wasted no time in getting on the board after tipoff, with a 3-pointer from Shannon Todd just six seconds into the game. Northeastern scored on three of its first four possessions, jumping out to a quick lead and leading by as many as eight points in the stanza. The NU defense was stifling, forcing turnovers on three-straight Denver possessions at one point in the quarter.

Second quarter:
Denver was able to cut into Northeastern's lead in the second quarter, thanks to the hot hand of Jacqlyn Poss, who tallied 13 points in the first half. The Huskies were able to maintain the lead, however; an and-1 by Ayanna Dublin and a long three by Maureen Taggart fired up the Huskies and kept Northeastern's momentum going. The team headed into the locker room with a 36-30 lead over the Pioneers.

Third quarter:
The Huskies were able to extend their lead to 10 at one point, but Denver responded and made its way within two points heading into the media timeout. Claudia Ortiz answered back with an impressive sequence late in the third quarter, driving to the basket for a layup, then assisting on a layup by Sally on the subsequent possession to stop the Denver scoring run. Despite the Pioneers outscoring them 21-19 in the quarter, the Huskies held onto a four-point lead heading into the fourth.

Fourth quarter:
Ortiz hit a three with just over seven minutes left in the game, forcing Denver to call a timeout with NU leading 60-54. The teams experienced a foul-filled period in the middle of the quarter, but the Huskies were up to the challenge — Northeastern shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter. Denver's Samantha Romanowski tallied an and-1 with 17 seconds to play, putting the Pioneers up by one. Out of the timeout, however, the Huskies ran a perfect inbound play that ended in a Jess Genco pull-up jumper with eight seconds left. On the other end, Sally tallied a monster block on a Denver layup attempt and salted the game away with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds.


UP NEXT
With its three-game road stand coming to a close, Northeastern will return to Boston to take on Siena for the final non-conference game of the season. The Saints and the Huskies will face off on Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. at Cabot Center.