Huskies Prowl for CAA Victory Over Struggling Seahawks

The Northeastern Huskies are eyeing an opening round win in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) women’s basketball tournament as they take on the struggling UNC Wilmington Seahawks on Wednesday.

Northeastern enters the postseason tilt as favorites according to computer predictions, which project a 67-58 victory for the Huskies at the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington D.C.

The Huskies are riding some momentum after knocking off Hampton 64-60 in their regular season finale on Sunday. Junior guard Derin Erdogan led the way with a team-high 25 points in that win.

Erdogan has been Northeastern’s top scorer this season at 15.0 points per game. She also contributes over a steal per contest while shooting a decent 34% from three-point range.

Joining Erdogan in the Huskies’ balanced offensive attack are Deja Bristol (10.4 ppg), Yirsy Queliz (5.6 ppg), Maddie Vizza (7.0 ppg) and Jaelyn Batts (5.6 ppg). That variety of scoring threats makes Northeastern a tough cover for opposing defenses.

While the Huskies have struggled to an overall 9-16 record, they did register some quality wins during CAA play. Their signature victory came on the road against Delaware (73-66) back on January 26th. They also earned hard-fought home wins over UMass, Merrimack and Hofstra.

UNC Wilmington comes into the conference tournament as heavy underdogs with a dismal 5-24 overall mark. However, the Seahawks did manage to upset CAA foe Campbell (69-58) at home on January 19th in what was their best win of an otherwise forgettable season.

Taylor Henderson (14.6 ppg) and Evan Miller (11.9 ppg) have been the top scoring options for UNCW. But the Seahawks’ offensive struggles are exemplified by their lowly 23.8% three-point shooting as a team.

Wilmington has been especially porous defensively, surrendering a whopping 73.0 points per game to rank near the bottom of Division I nationally in scoring defense.

The underdogs will need to find a way to slow down Erdogan and the high-scoring Huskies’ attack if they hope to pull off the upset on Wednesday. Northeastern seems determined to keep its season alive and dancing with an opening round tournament victory.

Both teams will take the court at 4:30 PM ET on March 13th, with the winner advancing to face a tougher challenge later in the CAA tourney bracket. Neutral fans can catch all the action live on ESPN+ or FuboTV.