Junior center Jess Fuller notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but Northeastern rallied from a late four-point deficit and scored the game's final eight points en route to a 55-51 victory over Hofstra on Wednesday evening at Solomon Court.  Both totals for Fuller marked game-highs.

The loss drops Hofstra's record to 16-13 overall and 8-10 in conference play heading into the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship next week in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Northeastern ended a three-game losing skid with the win and upped its record to 11-18 and 8-10 in CAA action.

The game was the regular season finale for both teams, and it marked the 12th double-double of the season for Fuller.

With her five blocks in the game tonight, Fuller became just the sixth player in program history to reach 100 career blocks.  In just over a season with the Pride, she now has 103 blocks and ranks fourth all-time in that category.

Fuller would almost single-handedly keep Hofstra close in the opening twenty minutes as the Queens, NY native nearly had a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds to assist in Pride efforts.  With the Pride trailing 15-7 after a basket from Kim Carr of Northeastern with 13:44 to play in the first half, a jumper from senior guard Niki Williams started Hofstra on a 12-2 run that allowed the Pride to earn a 19-17 advantage following a layup from Fuller with 9:06 left in the half.  Defense and transition offense allowed Hofstra to get back into the contest as the Pride scored three straight fast-break layups that eventually knotted the score at 17 with 9:47 remaining.

Trailing by one at the break, Hofstra would score the first four points of the second stanza to take a 31-28 lead after a jumper from senior guard Natty Fripp.  A three-pointer from the corner from junior guard Sam Brigham would push the lead up to five, 36-31, with 16 minutes to play before a Kashaia Cannon three-pointer quickly closed the gap back to two for the Huskies.  Sophomore guard Aamira Terry would then begin a personal 4-0 run with a layup before sinking a pair of free throws that put Hofstra ahead 40-34 with 12:27 to play in regulation.

Northeastern would regroup at that point and the Huskies would score the game's next 10 points, while holding the Pride scoreless for a stretch of nearly eight minutes to take a 44-40 lead at the 4:41 mark after a pair of free throws from Brittany Wilson. 

Down 47-42, Hofstra would begin to mount a comeback and would score nine straight points, including a basket from Fuller with 2:02 left that put Hofstra up 51-47.  A three-pointer from Cannon would close the gap to one before a clutch three from the wing with 54 seconds left from Kendra Walton put Northeastern back in front by the score of 53-51.  Jasmine Crew would hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to account for the final margin.

Fripp finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and a game-high five assists in 40 minutes of action for the Pride, while Brigham joined Fuller and Fripp in double figures with 13 points. 

Crew led Northeastern with 15 points, while Walton tallied 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 

Hofstra returns to action next Thursday when they open play in the CAA Championship, hosted by James Madison (Harrisonburg, VA).  Pairings for the tournament will be announced later this evening.

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