UNC Wilmington won the opening tip against Northeastern, but that was just about the only thing that went right for the Seahawks on Sunday. The Huskies exploded in their best offensive showing of the season, cruising to a 92-51 rout on their home floor.
Seldom will you find a team more fundamentally sound than this 2022-23 iteration of the Huskies, and it was their fundamentals that allowed them to take a commanding lead of 29-10 after the opening quarter. Northeastern opened the game with a lethal full-court zone defense that simply stymied the Seahawks, as they had nine turnovers in the first frame alone.
Offensively, it was the Derin Erdogan show. The junior guard put up 11 points on the afternoon, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field. She also had two assists, but that does not do her justice as she was the epitome of a floor general, facilitating offense with both her play and her voice.
The second quarter was much of the same for the Northeastern defense and that was most evident from the Seahawks four-minute scoring drought to open the quarter. Applying pressure without fouling was the name of the game for Northeastern, as they were able to continuously force UNC-Willmington into contested shots and the Seahawks could not get them to fall.
At the end of the second quarter, the Huskies were already halfway to the century mark, leading 50-24.
Going into the break, one question loomed: Could the Seahawks finally figure out how to break the Huskies’ press? That answer was found quickly, as despite Northeastern playing deep into their bench, UNCW could not find any improvements, turning the ball over seven times in the period as they were out-scored 13-27. Shooting 5-for-16, nothing was going the Seahawks way offensively.
On the flipside, Northeastern continued their march to 100 as they had six players in the scoring column and shot 11-for-17. Graduate Guard JaMiya Braxton was perfect from beyond the arc, hitting both of her shots from deep.
Entering the final quarter, Northeastern looked to empty their bench as their starters got a much deserved rest as the game was decided long before the final frame. The same could not be said for UNCW, as they continued to play a majority of their starters, trying to salvage anything from this non-contest.
With the second unit in, the Huskies switched over to a man-to-man defense. The Seahawks began to show some life as they put up a game-high 16 points in the quarter.
The offense for Northeastern seemed to step off the gas pedal in the fourth as the Huskies turned to their bench unit, yet they still were able to outscore the Seahawks for the quarter and wrap up their most dominant effort of the season.
The Huskies will return to action next Friday night as they travel south to square off with new CAA foe NC A&T. Check the WRBB Sports website for written coverage of the contest.