Motema's 22 points and Bristol double-double powers Huskies in season-opener
Thornton matched her career-best with 17 points for the Skyhawks tonight (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
EASTON, Mass. (November 6, 2023) – Northeastern University pulled away down the stretch by limiting Stonehill College to just two points over the final three minutes to secure a 73-61 victory in a season-opening non-conference women's basketball matchup on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.
Junior Gemima Motema led all scorers with 22 points for Northeastern, finishing 9-for-18 from the floor, with six rebounds and three assists, while senior Deja Bristol, a transfer from Virginia, posted a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Senior Derin Erdogan rounded out the Huskies in double-figures with 13 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Senior Jada Thornton led Stonehill with a career-high matching 17 points, with five rebounds and two assists. Anna Boruta, a postgraduate transfer from Northeastern, added a career-best 15 points against her former teammates, with two rebounds. Freshman Brooke Paquette contributed seven points in her collegiate debut, while junior Maureen Stapleton pulled down a team-high seven boards, with four points and career-best three steals.
Paquette sparked an 8-0 Stonehill spurt that erased a seven-point (18-11) Northeastern advantage (18-11) with 3:33 to play in the first half, for a quick lead (19-18) after a Thornton jumper in the paint a minute later. Erdogan gave the Huskies the lead (20-19) at the half, but junior Sharn Hayward opened the third quarter with a second chance layup to pull the Skyhawks back in front (21-20).
Boruta netted a career-best 15 points with a trio of three-pointers against her former teammates. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
The lead went back and forth six times over the first four minutes of the second quarter and Stonehill grabbed a two-point lead (32-30) with 3:48 remaining in the frame after a Paquette three and free-throw by sophomore Paige Martin. Freshman Yirsy Queliz answered with a three for Northeastern that sparked nine-straight points for the Huskies to open a seven-point lead (39-32) on a Bristol layup with 68-seconds remaining in the half.
Stapleton closed out the first half scoring to pull Stonehill back within five (39-34) heading to the lockerroom and then Boruta drilled a three to pull the Skyhawks within two (39-37) 1:37 into the second half. Another Boruta triple had Stonehill within three (43-40) with 7:13 to play in the third, but Northeastern scored seven of the next eight points to open a nine-point cushion (50-41) after an Erdogan three with 5:26 to go in the frame.
Stonehill drew back within four (53-49) heading to the fourth quarter, but Northeastern opened the final frame with an 11-2 run to open a 13-point cushion (64-51) after a three-point play by Bristol with 6:45 to play. The Skyhawks rallied to within five (64-59) with 3:15 to go after four-straight points from Thornton but could get no closer as the Huskies held to hosts to just two points from there and canned five of eight free-throws in the final minute to clinch the win.
Noteworthy
- Boruta played 41 games with one start over three seasons at Northeastern before transferring in as a postgrad at Stonehill this season. She posted the third double-figure scoring game of her career – besting a pair of 11-point games for the Huskies tonight.
- Thornton matched her career-best set in her first career start at the University of New Haven in January 2022, scoring in double-digits for the fourth time in her career.
- Martin made her first collegiate start in her Stonehill debut after transferring in from St. Francis-Brooklyn, formerly of the NEC. She finished with a career-best six rebounds.
- Paquette drained the first two three-pointers of her collegiate career off the bench for Stonehill, scoring all seven of her points in the first half. She was among four Skyhawk freshmen to make their collegiate debuts tonight.
- Stonehill and Northeastern squared off for the second-straight year at Merkert Gym, with the Huskies, picked third in the Coastal Athletic Conference preseason poll, improving to 2-0 in the series with the two games decided by an average of 11.5 points and decided by fourth quarter runs by the Huskies.
Up Next
Stonehill (0-1, 0-0 NEC) is back in action on Thursday night when it visits Big East member DePaul University for a non-conference matchup in Chicago, Illinois, at 8 p.m. (EST). The Skyhawks return to Merkert Gym on Saturday to host Lehigh University at 2 p.m. Northeastern (1-0, 0-0 CAA) hosts UMass on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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