Box Score | Season Statistics | Infographic

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Riding Gabby Giacone's career-high, 24-point performance, the Northeastern women's basketball team cruised to the 67-48, wire-to-wire victory against College of Charleston on Sunday afternoon at TD Arena, solidifying its year-end placement among the conference's top five teams for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
 
Giacone single-handedly ran the Huskies out to a 6-0 lead during the game's opening two and a quarter minutes, reaching double digits near the midway point of the first quarter. She ended the day with a career high, 11 field goals, on 15 attempts, also tallying nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals.
 
With the victory, Northeastern (15-13, 10-7 CAA) has guaranteed its spot within the No. 4 versus No. 5 quarterfinal game of the 2018 CAA tournament, which will take place on Thursday, March 8, at 2:30 p.m. in Philadelphia (hosted by Drexel). The Huskies also tied the program record for most regular-season conference wins during their 13-year CAA tenure, set previously by the 2012-13 squad.
 
NU senior Maureen Taggart kicked off Senior Week by accounting for one third of Northeastern's nine 3-pointers, playing a season high, 28 minutes, while racking up nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Fellow seniors Loren Lassiter and Claudia Ortiz were key contributors to the Huskies' cause: Lassiter totaled seven points, six rebounds, and a block, while Ortiz recorded six points and three steals.
 
Stella Clark paced the Huskies in minutes (34), logging nine points, five assists, and two steals.
 
Northeastern shot 44 percent from the field – 10 percentage points higher than the Cougars' 34-percent clip. The Huskies also sported a +10 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Tanisha Brown led College of Charleston (6-22, 2-15 CAA) with 16 points and was one of three players that co-led the Cougars with six rebounds. Deja Ford scored nine points behind Brown's team lead, while Bri Sullivan matched her six points with six rebounds.
 
The Huskies scored the first nine points of the ballgame, sending Charleston into a called timeout at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter. Northeastern proceeded to sprint out to a 22-10 lead by the end of the period and led by as many as 22 points (34-12) with 5:17 remaining in the first half.
 
College of Charleston reduced the Huskies' lead to as low as 14 points (49-35) during the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter, but NU countered with a 16-7 scoring run to put the margin out of reach.
 
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Northeastern will host Hofstra on Saturday, March 3, at 2 p.m. Prior to the game, the Huskies will honor the three members of their 2017-18 senior class: Maureen Taggart, Claudia Ortiz, and Loren Lassiter.