BOSTON – Beginning the new decade in historic Matthews Arena, the Northeastern women's basketball will dive into conference play on Sunday, Jan. 5, when the Huskies host their CAA regular season opener against Hofstra. Sunday's game will air live on NESN with coverage starting at 2 p.m. All CAA regular season games are also available to watch outside New England on FloHoops.
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THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1.
2018-19 Series Review: Sunday's matchup features a battle between two 2019 CAA semifinalists as sixth-seeded Northeastern and ninth-seeded Hofstra both made their way to the third day of the conference tournament (hosted by Delaware). Despite the Huskies (9-9 CAA) finishing six games above the Pride (3-15 CAA) in the year-end regular season standings, NU went winless against Hofstra, playing to the 78-61 road defeat in January and the late-game, 63-62 home loss in February. Considering both 2018-19 meetings, Northeastern returns three of its six combined double-digit scoring performances in
Stella Clark,
Ayanna Dublin and
Shannon Todd.
2.
Last Time Out:Â
Kendall Currence led Northeastern with 13 points off the bench on Dec. 29 at Boston University, despite the Huskies receiving the 72-56 defeat during their non-conference finale.
Shannon Todd started shooting three-for-three from downtown and scored 11 of Northeastern's first 14 points, but was kept quiet the rest of the game as BU operated at a 51-percent shooting clip – the second highest field goal percentage NU has allowed this season. Prior to Dec. 29, Northeastern had held opponents to 36 percent shooting and 52.5 points per contest during its four-game winning streak that featured a Dec. 4 victory at Harvard (then-ranked No. 19 per collegeinsider.com's Women's Mid-Major Top 25 rankings).
3.
Battle Tested: Northeastern's non-conference schedule featured a variety of tests and challenges that were designed to ready the Huskies for their upcoming runs through the CAA season and to their first league title. Outside of a November west-coast trip to No. 1 Oregon, four of Northeastern's other 10 non-conference opponents were ranked in the Dec. 31 reveal of the Women's Mid-Major Top 25 rankings. NU split its two matchups against defending conference champions Fordham (L, 58-74) and Maine (W, 66-58), holding fourth-quarter leads against both squads. Having rattled off four wins during its final five non-conference contests, Northeastern heads into Sunday's conference tilt ranked No. 136 nationally in strength of schedule while it pursues its fourth consecutive CAA-opening victory.
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UP NEXT
• Northeastern will travel to Philadelphia on Friday, Jan. 10, for a 2019 CAA semifinal rematch against Drexel. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
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