Game Information: Northeastern (0-0) at Boston University (0-0)
When	Friday, Nov. 10  |  5:30 p.m.
Where	Boston, Mass.  |  Case Gym
Broadcast & Statistics	Stats  |  Video
Game Notes	Northeastern (PDF)
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BOSTON – Arriving at the dawn of the 2017-18 season, the Northeastern women's basketball team is primed to rekindle its storied rivalry against Boston University on Friday, Nov. 10, when the Huskies pay the Terriers a visit at Case Gym for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. NU has won each of the last four regular-season openers contested between the two schools and sported double-digit victories against BU during each of its two most recent trips up Commonwealth Avenue (2013, 2015).
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST BOSTON UNIVERSITY
 
Northeastern enters Friday's battle for Boston supremacy trailing the Terriers by four results in the all-time series, 39-35. The home team in the series has traditionally held the advantage; NU leads BU, 21-11, during games played at Cabot Center, while the Terriers have a 20-11 edge in games played on their home floor.
 
LAST MEETING
 
The Huskies piled on the points against the Terriers during the first quarter of the two teams' Nov. 11, 2016, meeting at Cabot Center. NU started the game on a 6-0 run and extended its lead to 17-5 after three consecutive 3-point makes by Zoe Zwerling, Francesca Sally, and Claudia Ortiz. Jess Genco dropped a game high, 27 points, on nine-of-12 shooting, tying the program record for single-game 3-point field goals (seven). Loren Lassiter recorded three of the Huskies' eight steals, while Northeastern collectively accounted for 26 points off turnovers. Sarah Hope and Corrine Williams led Boston University with 13 points apiece, while Courtney Latham chipped in 12 points off the bench.
 
KEEPING IT IN-STATE
 
Northeastern will spend the duration of November within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, despite opposing only two Massachusetts-based programs. After opening the regular season against Boston University, the Huskies will return home to host Providence (Tuesday, Nov. 14), Fairfield (Friday, Nov. 17), and Marist (Sunday, Nov. 19) at Cabot Center. NU will then travel to Amherst to compete in the UMass Thanksgiving Challenge, which will pit the Huskies against Massachusetts (Friday, Nov. 24), and Houston (Saturday, Nov. 25).
 
THE NU-BU OPENER
 
The Huskies are 4-1 all-time when opening the regular season against Boston University. NU lost its inaugural game of the 1978-79 season, 60-47 (Dec. 5), to the Terriers, but has since dominated the series' modern era, winning four straight openers from 2013 to 2016.
 
Modern era: Northeastern has won each of the last four season-opening meetings by an average of 16.0 points, reaching the 73-point plateau on each occasion with a team field goal percentage that has exceeded 42 percent each game. The Huskies' 77-44 win at Case Gym to begin the 2015-16 season was the largest margin of victory Northeastern has ever achieved against the Terriers.
 
RETURNING FOR THE HUSKIES
 
NU retains 83 percent of its total minutes and 77 percent of its offensive production from the 2016-17 season, including four prominent starters (Jess Genco, Gabby Giacone, Claudia Ortiz, and Shannon Todd). Loren Lassiter, who appeared during each of the Huskies' 31 games last year, is projected to transition from the role of the team's sixth woman into the starting rotation following the graduation of Francesca Sally.
 
ORTIZ, GENCO BOTH PRESEASON ALL-CAA
 
Northeastern's Claudia Ortiz and Jess Genco both received preseason all-conference consideration, as announced on Oct. 19 during the CAA Women's Basketball Digital Media Day Show.
 
Ortiz was Northeastern's leading scorer during the 2016-17 campaign, averaging 13.0 points per game during her junior season, including a 15.8 clip during CAA games. A sharpshooter from every location, the five-foot-eight guard from Carolina, Puerto Rico, ranked fourth in the conference in both 3-point shooting percentage (39.7) and free throw percentage (80.4) – the latter in which she also ranked among the top 100 NCAA Division I players. By season's end, she had posted 22 double-digit scoring games and five 20-point scoring games, including a career high, 29-point effort on Feb. 26 against UNCW.
 
As a sophomore, Genco led all Division I players in minutes per game (38.71) during the 2016-17 season, averaging just shy of 10 points per game (9.8) while ranking fourth in the CAA in assists per game (4.2). Improving her ball control, the five-foot-five point guard elevated her assist-to-turnover ratio from 1.15 during her rookie campaign (2015-16) to 1.43 last season, positioning herself among the top seven guards in the conference. Genco's 3-point shot was also as lethal as Ortiz's last year, if not more so, considering that the duo ranked first (58) and second (48) on the squad in 3-point field goals, respectively.
 
HUSKIES PICKED SIXTH
 
Northeastern was projected to finish sixth in the final CAA standings, according to the conference's preseason predicted order of finish that was voted on by the league's head coaches (Oct. 19). The Huskies' sixth-place finish matches where NU has ended the conference regular season in during its past two runs through the CAA season, which yielded two automatic berths into the league quarterfinals, off which Northeastern advanced to the semifinals in 2016.
 

Rank	School	Points (First-place votes)
1.	James Madison	78 (6)
2.	Elon	74 (3)
3.	William & Mary	58
4.	Drexel	51 (1)
5.	Delaware	48
6.	Northeastern	47
7.	Hofstra	43
8.	Towson	19
	UNCW	19
10.	College of Charleston	13