📹 | "I think it was a well-played game in both directions. JMU is a quality team with a lot of versatility."@GoNUwbasketball head coach Kelly Cole opens her press conference after Sunday's #CAAHoops defeat at James Madison. #HowlinHuskies pic.twitter.com/lu8oaVxrvE

— Northeastern Women's Basketball (@GoNUwbasketball) January 26, 2020

HARRISONBURG, Va. – With junior point guard Stella Clark racking up 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists, the Northeastern women's basketball team battled hard against the defending CAA regular season champion, James Madison, despite succumbing to the hosts, 67-54, at the Convocation Center.
 
Clark earned nine of her team high, 14 points, behind the 3-point line, logging 40 minutes of action for the fourth time this season. Sophomore forward Alexis Hill finished with 13 points, three rebounds and three steals, riding out her four personal fouls through the duration of the fourth quarter.
 
Northeastern (8-10, 4-3 CAA) induced 18 turnovers against James Madison (15-3, 6-1 CAA) – a tie for the third most that JMU has committed throughout the 2019-20 season. NU rookies Mossi Staples, Anna Boruta and Century McCartney solely accounted for the Huskies' 21 bench points while the Dukes' starters united for all but three points of their winning total.
 
After surrendering 11 of the game's first 13 points to James Madison, Northeastern rallied to shoot 58 percent during the first half, hitting seven of its nine field goal attempts during the second quarter. Boruta's 3-pointer with 2:41 to play in the half brought NU within two points of JMU at 26-24, but the Dukes managed to preserve their lead into the locker room, receiving 3-point baskets down the stretch from Kamiah Smalls and Jackie Benitez.
 
Hill's and-one layup inside six minutes to go in the third quarter prompted the Huskies' 9-1 scoring run that shaved the James Madison lead down to 44-41. Despite facing the 48-43 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, Northeastern was unable to pull closer than a five-point margin of JMU through the remainder of the contest, scoring six points across the game's final five minutes.
 
Kiki Jefferson led James Madison's cast of four double-digit scorers, tallying 17 points and four steals. Lexie Barrier, Benitez and Smalls charted 15, 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
#HowlinHuskies