By Patrick McHugh, News Staff

Amid the hoopla and excitement surrounding the NCAA Final Four in Detroit, the Northeastern women’s club basketball was also in Detroit and the team brought home a title of their own.
The squad earned a national championship as winners of the 2009 NIRSA National Campus Championship Series for women’s basketball. NIRSA, which stands for the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, is the largest intramural sports association in the country and sponsored the national championships, which were held at Hoop City in Detroit April 3 to April 5.
‘ It has been a remarkable run in a short amount of time for these ladies. The club began in 2006 and started competitive play the next year. After one year of competition the team joined play in NIRSA and earned the championship in their second year in the association.
‘It was amazing because we didn’t know what it was like to play in a national tournament like this,’ said junior chemistry major Sam Mosley, who had a role in creating the team three years ago.
‘We managed to take our game to a whole new level. It was a true team effort.’
After winning the Northeast regional qualifying tournament at Boston University Feb. 27 to March 1 the club qualified for the national championships in Detroit. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Unfortunately, due to limited court time, the team was unable to get a lot of practice in before the tournament began. Mosley said the only game plan was to ‘outrun teams up and down the court.’
On Friday, April 3 the team took to the Hoop City court for the first game of pool play. Despite an opening loss to Texas-San Antonio in the morning, the team responded that night to defeat Wayne State 39-34. The following morning the Huskies faced Loyola Marymount with a berth to the semifinals on the line. The result was never in question as Northeastern won 41-29.
Because the semifinals were not until the next morning the team had the opportunity to spend some down time in Detroit. With the Final Four being played downtown, the team was able to soak up the basketball atmosphere and explore Hoop City, including seeing the 2009 All-America team.
‘That made the experience even better,’ said senior biology major Lindsey Cullity, who also helped create the team. ‘We got to spend time as a team away from the tournament and enjoy everything going on in Detroit.’
In the semifinals, Northeastern went up against Miami (Ohio) and came away with a 34-25 win. That set up a championship match-up that afternoon against Savannah State.
With a 54-48 quadruple overtime victory the Huskies became national champions.
The win was bittersweet for the seniors on the team as the joy of a championship came with the realization that their playing days with their peers who built the club basketball program must end.
Cullity reflected on the win and her time as a member of the team.
‘I had a blast playing with this team,’ Cullity said. ‘To think that we could win a national championship in such a short amount of time, it’s something to be proud of.’