Powered by a 26-point third quarter, Northeastern made what was a 36-17 game at the half a little more interesting, but ultimately dug themselves too deep a hole in a 64-55 loss to Stony Brook Friday night on Long Island.
The game was a matchup of the bottom two teams from this year’s CAA preseason poll, although the Seawolves have been outperforming expectations this season. They came into Friday’s contest sitting at second place in the conference table. The night started out sloppy from both sides, with Stony Brook committing five turnovers in the first five minutes of the game, while the Huskies went 1-for-6 from the field during that timespan.
Both teams were looking to push the ball in transition from the jump, and while that led to disorganized play initially, the Seawolves were able to start making more shots and controlling the glass. The home team outrebounded Northeastern 14-5 in the first quarter, with the Huskies failing to collect a single offensive board during that span, coming off of a game against Drexel where they grabbed 20.
Stony Brook led 19-11 after 10 minutes, and only expanded their lead in the second quarter as the Huskies went cold from the floor. Northeastern did not score a single point in the final 7:30 of the first half, allowing the Seawolves to head into the locker room on a 13-0 run. The Huskies went 0-for-7 from the field and committed seven turnovers in that time.
Out of the halftime break, though, Northeastern looked like a completely different team. They began the second half on a 13-3 run, with sophomore forward Justice Tramble scoring three buckets down low in around 90 seconds. The Huskies had two bigs on the floor for most of the night, and Tramble was the best one, finishing with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting, her seventh game of CAA play breaking double figures.
Later in the third quarter, Northeastern whittled the deficit to as little as three points, with a 9-0 run in the span of three minutes to make it a 44-41 game. The Huskies were helped by Stony Brook going 1-for-10 from three-point range during the frame, and their offense was able to work against the Seawolves’ set defense rather than trying to rush a transition look.
A buzzer-beating layup by sophomore guard Camryn Collins put Northeastern within four heading into the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as the Huskies would get the rest of the night. Stony Brook started the frame on a 12-4 run to open up a 12-point advantage, with Northeastern’s offense looking more like it did in the first two quarters.
Junior guard Yirsy Quéliz was fouled on a three-pointer with 49 seconds left with a chance to get the margin as low as five, but could only make one of her three free throws. The Huskies were able to force a tie-up on the ensuing possession and get the ball back, but they were unable to execute what was a great inbounds play drawn up by head coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd. Northeastern ran it perfectly and got Collins rolling to the basket with the ball, but her layup rolled off the rim and into the hands of the Seawolves.
The defeat extends the Huskies’ losing streak to four games and drops them to 2-8 in CAA play, although with Hofstra and UNCW also losing Friday night, Northeastern would still avoid the first-round game in the conference tournament if the season ended today.
The Huskies conclude their road trip by taking on Towson Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. WRBB’s next women’s basketball broadcast will be the following Sunday, in a rematch with Stony Brook at the Cabot Center. Sammy Glassman and Daniel Ku will have the call of the 1 p.m. tip.
Jordan Walsh is a fifth-year student at Northeastern who has been with WRBB Sports since 2021, primarily covering men’s and women’s basketball. You can read all of his articles for WRBB here and find him on Twitter/X here.