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BOSTON – Equipped with its balanced offense and resounding defense, the Northeastern women's basketball team powered its way to its second consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon, closing its three-game home stand at Cabot Center with a 78-72 downing of Marist.
 
Northeastern (2-2) witnessed five players score in double figures for the second time through its first four games. Gabby Giacone led the Huskies with 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting in addition to recording three steals and two blocks. NU guards Claudia Ortiz and Stella Clark each followed with 15 points apiece, while Oritz added five assists and two steals.
 
Jess Genco stuffed the stat sheets with 14 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, and a steal during 38 minutes of work. She and Ortiz both drained four of the Huskies' 13 3-pointers, which came in one short of matching the program's single-game record.
 
Marist (1-2) received 22 points from Rebekah Hand, who also led the Red Foxes with eight rebounds. Molly Smith and Hannah Hand both charted 13 points and two steals, while Allie Best paired her 12 points with five boards and seven assists.
 
Northeastern's six-point win was a direct reflection of its +6 advantage in 3-point field goals. Both the Huskies and the Red Foxes ended the game with identical field goal (26) and free throw (13) tallies.
 
NU also outscored Marist, 45-38, during the second half, and led by more than one possession during the final five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. The Huskies collectively shot 45.5 percent after halftime and outgained the Red Foxes on the glass, 23-18 (36-35 overall).
 
FIRST QUARTER
 
Northeastern ran out to a 21-9 lead at the end of the first quarter courtesy of its eight-of-15 shooting from the field, which included a five-of-nine mark from behind the arc. At the same time, the Huskies defensively held Marist to only one field goal on 11 attempts, despite surrendering seven points to the Red Foxes at the free throw line.
 
Jess Genco funneled in consecutive 3-pointers to begin the game for Northeastern, which kept Marist off the scoreboard for the opening three minutes of play. After misfiring from long range on her earlier two tries, Shannon Todd provided the Huskies with a 9-2 lead upon draining her one-dribble jumper at the top of the key. Northeastern contained the Red Foxes well in its man-to-man defense and after two layups by Gabby Giacone, built a 13-4 lead near the four-minute mark. Marist's Molly Smith and Rebekah Hand combined to shoot seven-of-eight from the foul line to keep the Red Foxes in contention, but 3-point jumpers by Claudia Ortiz and Stella Clark during the final two minutes, followed by another of Clark's transition layups, helped cushion the Huskies' lead by 12 points.
 
SECOND QUARTER
 
Picking up where she left off, Clark tallied her eighth straight point for Northeastern upon hitting her second 3-pointer of the game, leaving NU with six perimeter makes on its first 10 attempts. After Allie Best had answered for Marist with a 3-pointer, Zoe Zwerling was knocked to the floor during her long-range attempt, sending the Northeastern junior to the line, where she made all three shots. However, a couple of poor decisions by the Huskies allowed the Red Foxes to rattle off 10 unanswered points during the game's next three minutes, prior to Smith's 3-point basket reducing the Huskies' lead to 29-25 with 4:11 remaining. Northeastern and Marist traded baskets down the stretch, but the Red Foxes managed to score the final five points of the half, taking the lead for the first time at 34-33 on Rebekah Hand's last-second 3-pointer.
 
THIRD QUARTER
 
Ortiz's 3-point jumper from the right wing prompted a period-opening, 7-0 run for Northeastern as the Huskies regained a 40-34 lead during the initial two minutes. After Marist had closed within one possession at 41-39 on Hannah Hand's perimeter make, Genco ball faked at the top of the key before hitting a long 2-pointer, putting the Huskies back in front by four, 43-39. However, back-to-back baskets by the Red Foxes' Hand twins, Rebekah and Hannah, knotted the game with 4:21 remaining. Todd broke the tie with her first of two 3-point jumpers during the quarter, later putting NU ahead by six, 51-45, on her second 3-point heave with 1:54 to go. NU outrebounded the Red Foxes, 15-12 during the quarter and muscled its way to a 53-48 lead by the final whistle.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
 
Northeastern started the fourth quarter as it had during each of the previous three: with a 3-pointer, this time by Genco. On the Huskies next possession, Oritz rattled in another 3-point shot, providing NU with a nine-point advantage, 59-50. Marist responded with seven straight points, the final five of which were scored by Best, but Northeastern never relinquished its lead, building it back up to seven points three times at 64-57, 66-59, and 67-60. Ortiz and Genco hit a pair of 3-pointers to extend the Huskies' lead to 73-62 with 1:54 to go, but the Red Foxes' tenacious play lowered the score to 73-69 with 46 ticks left. NU closed out the game from the foul line with help from Clark (four-for-four) and Todd (one-of-two).
 
UP NEXT
 
Northeastern will remain in-state but head to Amherst, where the Huskies will compete in the two-day UMass Thanksgiving Tournament. The Huskies will first oppose the tourney host, Massachusetts, on Friday, Nov. 24, at 1 p.m. before closing out the event against Houston on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 11 a.m.