Box Score | Season Statistics | Infographic | Highlights

BOSTON – Claudia Ortiz led all scorers with 24 points and Francesca Sally paired nine points with nine rebounds despite the Northeastern women's basketball team beginning its weekend home stand at Cabot Center with a 68-54 defeat on Friday night against William & Mary.
 
Ortiz notched the third 20-point game of her career for NU, finishing three points shy of her two previous career-high, 27-point outings. The junior guard scored each of the Huskies' first 10 points of the second half and rounded out her 36-minute stat line with an eight-of-16 shooting clip and a six-of-seven mark from the free-throw line.
 
Sally's nine points on Friday helped raise the senior's career scoring total above 800 points. She also led Northeastern (7-15, 3-7 CAA) in rebounding for the fourth straight game and seventh time during the team's last eight contests.
 
William & Mary (14-6, 4-5 CAA) distanced itself from the Huskies early during the first quarter courtesy of a 19-2 run that spanned the opening four minutes and change. Four different players aided in the Tribe hitting each of their first six field goal attempts during the stretch, while the visitors collectively went on to sink 12 of their 18 shots before the period had ended.
 
Marlena Tremba scored eight of her team high, 17 points, during the opening quarter as William & Mary raced out to a 31-8 advantage by the quarter break.
 
Alexandra Masaquel registered a double-double for William & Mary with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Bianca Boggs, Latrice Hunter, and Abby Rendle each charted eight points apiece.
 
Despite remaining even with the Tribe in turnovers, the Huskies surrendered a 10-point margin to William & Mary in points off turnovers, 20-10. NU also lost the battle in the paint, 28-22, in addition to having its bench outscored, 23-12.
 
Northeastern chiseled five points off the Tribe's 23-point lead during the second quarter and headed into halftime facing a manageable, 39-21 deficit. Even with Ortiz's batch of 10 points to spark the Huskies' offense during the second half, NU had trouble lowering the gap any further, conceding eight points back to William & Mary during the third quarter.
 
NU succeeded in keeping the Tribe scoreless during the final 3:25 of the regulation while scoring 12 unanswered points to reduce William & Mary's winning margin to 14.
 
UP NEXT
 
Northeastern will welcome James Madison to Cabot Center on Sunday, Feb. 5, for a 2 p.m. tip. NU will be hosting its We Back Pat game, supporting Alzheimer's Awareness.