BOSTON – The momentum of Friday’s 75-64 victory over Yale should have propelled Northeastern toward their first home win and back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2023-24 season. Instead, a fourth-quarter collapse — just seven points while Boston University poured in 22 — handed the Terriers their first win of the season and left the Huskies still searching for that home triumph.
Junior guard Yirsy Quéliz led Northeastern’s offense early with a series of three-pointers in the first quarter. Sophomore guard Camryn Collins added another three, and sophomore forward Taylor Holohan contributed two free throws as the Huskies built their lead. The Huskies followed a similar game plan to that seen in Friday’s game, featuring a fast tempo that focused on pushing the pace and a defense-first strategy. An 8-0 run and five consecutive BU misses gave the Huskies a 15-8 advantage after the first.
The second quarter followed a similar trajectory, but the Terriers began finding their rhythm. BU junior guard Inés Monteagudo Pardo made a three-pointer, and sophomore guard Hildur Gunnsteinsdottir converted a layup off of a Northeastern turnover. Quéliz’s jumper stopped the bleeding and pushed the lead back to 13. Still, the Huskies looked shaky, committing nine turnovers, which gave the Terriers 14 points. Northeastern’s 50% shooting from deep kept them ahead at halftime despite the Terriers’ 36%.
Huskies sophomore forward Justice Tramble opened the third quarter by making a tip-in shot and a layup that forced a BU timeout. Later, when BU’s Rose Azmoudeh drained a three-pointer, Quéliz responded with one of her own. The rivalry’s intensity picked up in the third quarter, sparking a lot of physical play, with multiple bodies hitting the hardwood that resulted in seven fouls. The Huskies were battling for the boards, narrowly outrebounding BU 11-10 despite the physical battle. The quarter ended 50-39, with Northeastern holding the advantage.
While the Huskies dominated early, they couldn’t sustain that momentum for the full 40 minutes, and BU capitalized on that dip in the final frame.
The fourth quarter proved a nail-biter and not in the way Huskies fans hoped. BU made tallies back to back when Gunnsteinsdottir made a three-pointer to follow up a layup from Bella McLaughlin. Senior forward Anete Alder, who had been solid on both ends of the floor throughout, elevated her game when it mattered the most, making two-point shots that gave the Terriers their first lead and ignited a 12-0 run.
“She’s a good player, she’s a big player,” said head coach Priscilla Edwards-Lloyd when asked about Alder’s defense. “You just gotta move your feet and get around.”
Desperate attempts by Quéliz and Collins in the final 15 seconds fell short, and the game slipped away from the Huskies, 57-61.
“We played hard, but as I told [the team], it’s a full game, so we’ve got to be able to sustain longer to finish and close games,” Edwards-Lloyd said. “Credit to BU, they played hard. We fell apart in the second half, and didn’t stay with the things that were working, so credit to them.”
After a disappointing end to Tuesday’s contest, Northeastern will seek to redeem itself when the Huskies travel to Merrimack College on Saturday, Nov. 15, with tip off at 3 p.m.
Madison Ferreira is a first-year student at Northeastern University. She looks forward to writing more sports articles and you can find future articles here.