Box Score | Season Stats | Infographic | Highlights | Press Conference

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – Competing in its first CAA semifinal game during its 11-year tenure in the league, the Northeastern women's basketball team was neck-and-neck with Drexel for most of the way on Friday afternoon despite a fourth-quarter surge by the Dragons that sent them past the Huskies, 58-45.
 
Senior co-captain Samantha DeFreese paced Northeastern (15-16) with 13 points and eight rebounds, blocking three shots during 39 minutes of action. Francesca Sally scored all 12 of her points during the second quarter, helping the Huskies lower their 11-point first quarter deficit to just six by halftime.
 
Although Northeastern shot 46.3 percent from the field compared to Drexel's clip of 36.7, the Huskies' 41 field goal attempts were trumped by the Dragons' 60. NU held the rebounding edge against Drexel, 31-29, but the Huskies' +14 turnover differential impacted their offensive effectiveness.
 
Te'Erica Eason secured five rebounds and scored five points, helping the Northeastern bench outscore Drexel, 20-10. Jess Genco played all 40 minutes, recording six points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
 
Jessica Pellechio hit four 3-pointers on her way to a 14-point semifinal performance for the Dragons, while Sarah Curran tallied 12 points and four assists. Rachel Pearson and Jackie Schluth each finished with eight points apiece.
 
Having poured on 27 points against Hofstra during the first quarter of Thursday's quarterfinal game, the Huskies had difficulty establishing the same rhythm against Drexel (19-12). The Dragons countered DeFreese's paint play with eight unanswered points and had soon jumped out to a 13-point advantage, 17-4, with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
 
Back-to-back baskets by DeFreese and Genco brought Northeastern to within eight during the final minute, but Meghan Creighton buried a 3-pointer to leave Drexel in front, 20-9, after one.
 
Sally came to life for the Huskies during the second period, scoring on consecutive possessions to begin the quarter. The NU guards made a habit of finding Sally and DeFreese in the paint, helping Northeastern go on a 12-4 run before the 4:48 media timeout.
 
Trailing the Dragons, 31-25, at halftime, DeFreese's three-point play at the foul line pulled NU back into the game at 31-30, before Giacone capped off a 7-0 run with a layup that gave Northeastern the lead at 32-31. Pellechio's clutch perimeter shooting soon sent Drexel back in front, 34-32, but Eason's buzzer-beater at the end of the third brought NU to within a point of the Dragons at 40-39 with 10 minutes left in regulation.
 
Eason split a pair of free throws that knotted the game up at 40-40 with 7:35 remaining, but Drexel assembled a 12-0 run at a critical time that put the contest just out of reach.