By Nate Owen, News Staff

The women’s basketball team’s electrifying 59-55 come-from-behind victory against William & Mary at Solomon Court yesterday had a little bit of everything.
Northeastern used an energetic, pressuring defense, clutch free throw shooting and a little African wisdom imported from Celtics coach Doc Rivers to snatch a victory away from the Tribe in the second half.
NU (7-11, 4-3 Colonial Athletic Association) came out flat in the first half, turning the ball over 14 times and trailing 32-21 at the halfway mark.
‘ ‘The first half was not us,’ head coach Daynia La-Force Mann said.’ ‘We just weren’t playing team basketball. It was circus in the first half, at least that’s what it looked like to me as a coach.
‘ William & Mary extended its lead to 41-25 at 16:16 on guard Dani Kelli’s jumper. Shortly after, La-Force Mann made a decision to change her lineup and start pressuring the Tribe on defense.
‘ ‘I made an adjustment and put the team out there that I thought would fight and scrap and that’s exactly what we did,’ she said. ‘We fought and scrapped with one junior [forward Kim Carr], one sophomore [guard Jasmine Crew] and three freshman, [guards Jamie Conroy, Brittany Wilson and Kashaia Cannon]. That’s the type of basketball I would love to play, pressure in your face defensively, but with the lineup we have sometimes we have to be more conservative and go with half-court man.’
The Husky defense clamped down and held the Tribe (10-8, 3-4 CAA) without a field goal for the final 6:13 of the game.
‘ With 3:15 left, Wilson stole the ball and broke down the court, sinking a layup to tie the game at 53. Conroy stole the ball on the next possession, but Carr quickly turned it over. A missed three pointer by guard Courtney Portell gave NU the ball back. Crew’s jumper gave NU a 55-53 lead with 2:19 left.
‘We didn’t want to lose another game,’ Crew said. ‘We just turned it up and playing good defense, the best way to describe it is pure heart, there was no special defense that we put in, it was just hustle, and scrapping, trying to get the loose ball.’
‘ William & Mary pulled to 57-55 on a pair of free throws by guard Taysha Pye. But Wilson answered right back, banking both her free throws with four seconds left to give NU a 59-55 lead and send the Husky bench into an uproar.
‘ ‘I love these kind of games when you’ve got to fight to win, but it’s nerve racking,’ Wilson said.
The second half saw a much better team effort from the Huskies, something La-Force Mann said she has stressed all season.
‘ ‘After reading some of the stories on the Celtics and Doc Rivers, I decided to incorporate [unbuntu], the African philosophy, into our team,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘Having such a young team, I felt we had to have a slogan that brought us together faster then it would have taken if the process had just taken its course.’
‘ Unbuntu, which means ‘I am who I am who I am because of those around me,’ has helped bring the team closer, La-Force Mann said.
‘ ‘I think even when my team is not playing well, they think about unbuntu first before their selfish actions take over,’ she said.
‘ Carr finished with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds. Crew had 16 points, five assists, five rebounds and two steals. Wilson had a career-high 14 points along with six rebounds. Crew spent much of the game playing in the three guard slot, with Conroy running the point.
This is a trend that could continue, La-Force Mann said. Junior forward and co-captain Kendra Walton only played 11 minutes, scoring two points. La-Force Mann said she was a little knicked up, but should be fine.
Prior to their thrilling victory against the Tribe, NU dropped a 61-51 loss at Drexel (10-8, 5-1 CAA) Thursday night. Crew had a career-high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies couldn’t rally back.
‘ ‘We weren’t making shots at Drexel,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘We came back to within 10, but it was game we could have lost by 20.’
‘ ‘ ‘ The Huskies host Delaware (9-9, 1-6 CAA) Thursday at 7 p.m.’