Senior night or career night? Huskies top Hampton in sixth-straight victory

By Eamonn Ryan News Staff

On senior day, teams celebrate the careers of players who have spent their college years with the program.

But the Northeastern women’s basketball (16-11, 11-5 CAA) graduating class of graduate student guard JaMiya Braxton and senior wing Anna Boruta wasn’t just there for the festivities. They celebrated senior day with great performances in the Huskies’ 79-46 win over Hampton (9-15, 6-8 CAA) Sunday.

Boruta — who has appeared in seven games for the Huskies this season — tied her career-high in points with 11, knocking down three triples and adding five assists.

“I’m just really excited for [Boruta], about her performance and the leadership that she’s been able to bring to our team,” said Northeastern head coach Bridgette Mitchell.

There wasn’t a better way for the Huskies’ senior day to play out, as graduate student guard JaMiya Braxton went off for 17 points in her last game on Solomon Court. The two graduating members led a Huskies team that dominated offensively, shooting 8-of13 from three-point range and getting 20 fast break paints.

Northeastern has a habit of falling behind early, but the Huskies came out ready — they opened the game on a 17-2 run that set the tone for the afternoon and after the first quarter, the Huskies led 23-6.

“We talked about wanting to have a good start because we didn’t last time out,” Mitchell said. “And that was our improvement…we made a conscious effort as a team and I’m really proud that they were able to go out and do that today.”

The Huskies were coming off a 70-61 win over Delaware Friday night that didn’t seem likely until a 22-0 third quarter run that eliminated a slow start — that momentum was still present in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.

Hampton slowly started to creep back into the game in the second quarter thanks to five consecutive Husky turnovers to open the frame. Neither team was particularly strong offensively, but the Pirates managed to outscore Northeastern 15-10 in those 10 minutes.

The Huskies were hampered by a solid Hampton halfcourt trap the couldn’t figure out until the third quarter. After senior wing Jaelyn Batts carried the ball across halfcourt and was double-teamed, Mitchell called a timeout and the Huskies then scored 13 straight points.

“Hampton’s a talented team. They’re always going to bring the pressure defensively,” Mitchell said. “It was really important for us to have composure to play with poise and confidence against that pressure. I thought that after that timeout we eased into it a bit and were able to execute how we wanted to offensively.”

Included in that run were two huge threes from Boruta which caused her friends and family to erupt on the sidelines, but more importantly helped extend the Husky lead to 46-29 with 4:15 to play in the period.

“[Boruta] bleeds red and black,” Mitchell said. “She just gives that energy. It’s infectious and she’s an awesome person to be around. So I’m not surprised that all the students came to support her today.”

The Huskies used that big run to take a 59-34 lead into the last quarter and coast home, outscoring the Pirates 20-12 in the final frame.

Everyone shared the love on the scoreboard, as the Huskies had five double-digit scorers. Senior forward Deja Bristol notched 16 points, Batts had 13 and junior guard Derin Erdogan added 10.

Northeastern had its best rebounding performance of the season, hauling in 54 boards and outrebounding Hampton by 22, even though the Pirates’ defense forced 24 Husky turnovers.

With the win, the Huskies have now won six straight heading into the last week of the regular season. They’re tied with three other teams for second in the CAA, but they’re blocking out everything besides what happens on the court.

“Man, we’re gonna just continue to put our head down and play,” Mitchell said. “We’re just focused on the next one.”

After a 74-60 win at Charleston on Thursday night, the Huskies will wrap up their regular season with a game at UNC Wilmington (5-23, 2-15 CAA) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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