#6 NU Tops #3 Hofstra to Vault into Semis
Vicki Friedman
BOXSCORE | CAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 10, 2016) – Sixth-seeded Northeastern is in the semifinals of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship for the first time ever after upsetting No. 3 seed Hofstra, 65-54, at The Show Place Arena during Thursday’s final quarterfinal.
Northeastern (15-15) meets No. 2 seed Drexel (18-12) at 4 p.m. in Friday’s second semifinal. The Huskies joined the CAA in 2006 and are finally able to celebrate a quarterfinal victory.
“Boy that feels good. It was a fantastic team effort,” said Huskies Head Coach
Kelly Cole. “The biggest thing we’ve done this year is we’ve really turned a corner in how hard we’re playing.”
Precision three-point shooting and an energy that Hofstra could not match elevated the Huskies to a 42-18 halftime lead. The Pride climbed all the way back from a 28-point deficit to nine after a three-pointer from
Ashunae Durant inside of a minute, but could rally no closer.
Durant finished with her tenth double-double of the season of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Four Northeastern players were in double figures led by freshman
Jess Genco’s 19. All-CAA First Team forward
Samantha DeFreese scored 15 with nine rebounds and
Kazzidy Stewart and
Francesca Sally each added 11.
While Hofstra was 20-of-23 from the line, the Pride struggled from the perimeter, missing on 18 of its 20 three-point attempts. Meanwhile, Northeastern shot 8-of-15 from beyond the arc with Genco netting 4-of-6.
Northeastern limited Hofstra to one field goal in the opening 8:15, building a 20-2 lead that just kept extending.
“We believe that we worked hard to get to this point in the season,” said DeFreese, 8-of-10 from the charity stripe with four steals and three blocks. “It was threes and post moves and jump shots and most importantly, jump shots.”
Northeastern had lost its last seven to Hofstra and fell 71-64 in Boston in the last game of the regular season for both teams. But the Huskies have won eight of their last 10 and limited Hofstra to 29 percent shooting this time.
“There’s a lot of new feelings going on new here,” Cole said. “Half of the battle up until this point has been getting them to believe.”
With a 22-8 record, the Pride, CAA Tournament finalists a year ago, await a potential bid to the WNIT for the second year in a row. Hofstra advanced to the quarterfinals of the event in 2007.
“It wasn’t falling at all,” said Hofstra Head Coach
Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, who had led her team to consecutive 20-win seasons. “Their energy, their intensity took us out of our game. They were ready and she [Cole] got the young team fired up.”