Nail Biter: UNCW opens CAA play with 69-67 win over Northeastern
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — In one of the closest games they’ll have all year, UNCW women’s basketball opened conference play Friday with a 69-67 win over Northeastern.
The game didn’t seem like it would be that close. Wilmington built an early 14-4 lead only for the Huskies to score the next 13 points. Head Coach Nicole Woods then got on the Seahawks to try get her players back on track during a timeout.
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
“That’s all that I’m harping on them about right now is the details,” Woods said. “Our emphasis in practice all week was that the details mattered. The details mattered. I thought we went away from our details during that segment. We had some players that came in and stepped up defensively. They came in and really got us centered and that helped us to be able to win this game.”
The Seahawks led by double digits in the 4th quarter only for the visitors to cut it to two. Northeastern had a chance at the last shot, but they missed and UNCW held on.
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
Woods was glad to see her defense make the needed plays when it mattered most.
“I just felt like we just got stagnant in that 4th quarter,” Woods said. “Then we started turning it over. We turned it over 25 times. We got to play loose. I tell them to just be them, it’s good enough. Play to the caliber in which we’re capable of playing and execute at the end.”
Paige Smith came off the bench and led the Seahawks with 15 points. Her 17 minutes on the floor weren’t even the most among the reserves and she saw less than half the playing time of half of the starters, but she made the most of her chances.
(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)
“No matter how much people play, you just got to go into the game and give every minute your full opportunity,” Smith said. “I felt like everybody collectively as a team does do that. Everybody has different goals and we all executed perfectly tonight.”
UNCW will have a short turnaround as they will host Hofstra on Sunday afternoon.
Click here to see the full box score from Friday’s game.
