BOSTON – Derin Erdogan tallied a team-high 15 points, but the North Carolina A&T Aggies (18-8, 12-3 CAA) used a big third quarter to take down the Northeastern women's basketball team (8-16, 4-11 CAA) on Friday night at the Cabot Center.
Erdogan notched 13 of her points in the first half, and tied a game-high with six assists.
Deja Bristol also tallied double-digits for the Huskies with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Maddie Vizza (nine points),
Yirsy Queliz (eight points, career-high six assists), and
Sophia Carlisle (career-high six points and six rebounds) also chipped in for Huskies.
As a team, Northeastern shot 38.9% overall (21of-54), and 40.9% from deep (9-of-22).
The Aggies shot 40% overall (26-of-65), and 34.8% (8-of-23) from three, but outscored the Huskies 24-7 in the third quarter. Chaniya Clark paced the visitors with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
The Huskies came out firing in the first, storming out to an early 7-2 lead capped off by an Erdogan three and a jumper by Bristol at the 6:59 mark. Northeastern continued to push the pace with a 7-0 run to extend the advantage to 16-6, highlighted by another three from Erdogan. The Huskies shot 53.8% overall (7-of-13) in the stanza, but the visitors kept the score close at 18-16 after an 8-0 run in the final minutes of the frame.
The Aggies quickly knotted the score up at 18 in the second with free throws, and the teams went back and forth for the majority of the stanza. The Aggies took their first lead of the game at the 8:10 mark after five straight points at 23-21, but Erdogan responded back with her third three of the game. The visitors tallied four straight points down the stretch to lead 29-27, and ultimately led 32-29 at halftime.
The Aggies were unconscious to start the third, tallying 16 straight points to lead 48-29 at the 5:07 mark. Clark tallied 11 of her points in the frame as the Aggies shot 56.3% overall (9-of-16) and 66.7% (4-of-6) from three to take a 20-point advantage into the fourth.
The hosts fought back in the final frame, tallying seven straight points, capped off by a Vizza three and a layup by Bristol to trim the deficit down to 13 (56-43) at the 8:15 mark. North Carolina A&T though, responded back each time NU went on a scoring run in the frame, and held on for the win.
The Huskies will host Hampton for Senior Day on Sunday, March 3. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. on FloHoops.
