PHILADELPHIA — The #3 seed Towson University women's basketball team is set to face #6 seeded Northeastern in the quarterfinals of at the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Championships on Friday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. The tournament, hosted by Drexel, will take place at the Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Tiger swept the Huskies in the regular season, winning at home, 86-81, before bringing home the road win on Jan. 28, 57-56. The second of the two victories gave the Black & Gold the 23-22 all-time edge over the Northeastern.
Records
- Towson 23-6 (14-4)
- Northeastern 14-14 (8-10)
2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Thursday, March 10 | First Round
Game 1: #8 Hofstra vs #9 UNCW – 2 p.m.
Friday, March 11 | Quarterfinals
Game 2: #1 Drexel vs Hofstra/UNCW Winner – 12 p.m.
Game 3: #4 Elon vs #5 Charleston – 2:30 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Delaware vs #7 William & Mary – 5 p.m.
Game 5: #3 Towson vs #6 Northeastern – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 12 | Semifinals
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3 – 1 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs Winner Game 5 – 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 13 | Championship
Game 8: Winner Game 6 vs Winner Game 7 – 1 p.m.
Last Time Out
Towson ended the regular season with a bang, as the team defeated first-place Drexel on Senior Day, 69-61.
The win over the Dragons marked the 23rd victory of the season to set the new program record for most victories in a season. Aleah Nelson had a record-setting day as well, recorded six assists to bring her season total to 156 helpers and set the program new season single assist high.
Anissa Rivera led the team in the victory with 22 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Skye Williams had a big game with 16 points and seven boards.
CAA Postseason Honors
Just before the start of the 2022 CAA Women's Basketball Championship, three members of the Towson University women's basketball team have earned All-CAA honors.
Aleah Nelson was selected First Team All-CAA while Allie Kubek was picked to the All-CAA Third Team. Kylie Kornegay-Lucas was selected as the Sixth Player of the Year.
Richardson In The Tournament
Head coach Diane Richardson has found success in the CAA Tournament in her first five seasons in the league. After falling in her first slate to UNCW in the first round, Richardson and her team came back stronger than ever in the 2019 tournament to win the Championship. The Tigers ran the table as a #4 seed, defeating Delaware (59-49), Hofstra (69-48) and Drexel (53-49) for their first CAA Tournament Championship in program history.
After the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Towson dropped their first-round game in 2021 to Hofstra to end its season.
23 & Counting
With Towson's most recent win over Drexel (March 5), the team set the program record for most wins in a regular season with 23 victories. The previous high was set during the 2007-08 campaign.
Since arriving in Towson in 2017, head coach Diane Richardson has now garnered two 20-win seasons, as she led the 2018-19 squad to a 20-13 overall mark.
As the Towson men's team currently sits with a 24-7 overall record, it marks the first time in Towson's history both the men's and women's teams have reached 20+ wins in the same season as the men currently have 24 wins.
Breaking Records
With six helpers against Drexel in the team's final game of the regular slate, Nelson broke the single season assist record with 156 total dimes. The previous high of 151 was set by Q. Murray during the 2019-2020 season.
Home Sweet Home
The Tigers ended the regular season with an 11-2 record in SECU Arena. The only losses have both come at the hands of Delaware (Feb. 9 and March 3). The team has reached over 70 points seven times and over 90 points on four occasions while at home.
Women's basketball is not the only team to find success while playing at SECU Arena this academic year, however, as men's basketball (12-2), gymnastics (10-1) and volleyball (17-1) have also dominated in front of a home crowd. All four teams are a combined 50-6 in SECU dating back to the beginning of the fall slate.
Coming Off The Bench
The Tigers have had a huge late season push off the bench, scoring double-digit points in the last 14 contests. Towson recorded 36 points off the bench against Drexel and has recorded +30 points seven times this slate. The team posted a season-high 49 points off the bench against James Madison (Feb. 13), led by Anissa Rivera with a game-high 21 points and Kylie Kornegay-Lucas who added 20.
Towson has scored 598 total points off the bench this slate for 20.6 points per game.
Sweepin' Up
The Tigers have completed six season sweeps of Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponents this season. The Black & Gold have earned two wins over William & Mary (Jan. 9 and Feb. 4), Elon (Jan. 7 and Feb. 6), James Madison (Jan. 16 and Feb. 13), UNCW (Jan. 23 and Feb. 18), Hofstra (Jan. 30 and Feb. 26) and Northeastern (Jan. 28 and Feb. 27).
Kornegay-Lucas Makes History
Kylie Kornegay Lucas' recorded a historic triple-double against Delaware (Feb. 9) with 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. The feat marks the first at Towson since 1993, when Tanya Belair did it against Winthrop (17p, 10r, 10s). Chris Pulaski did it when the team was Division II, amassing 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks. It is also the first in the CAA since 2018 when Shay Burnett of Elon brought in 13 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists.
D-FENSE!
The black & gold have held 13 opponents to under 35.5 percent shooting 15 times in a game this season. Towson kept Frostburg State (32.8 percent, 19-of-58), Florida (35.2 percent, 25-of-71), Wofford (30.2 percent, 19-of-63), Millersville (19.1 percent, 9-of-47), Howard (25.4 percent, 18-of-71), Delaware State (32.7 percent, 18-of-55), East Carolina (25.3 percent, 19-of-75), UMass Lowell (29.3 percent, 17-of-58), UNCW (32.2 percent, 19-of-59), Elon (33.9 percent, 21-of-62) and Charleston (27.8 percent, 22-of-79), Northeastern (35.3 percent, 24-of-68) and Drexel (33.3 percent, 21-of-63) all below the mark. They have also held Hofstra under 33 percent shooting both times they met this season (26.7 percent, 16-of-60/32.8 percent, 21-of-64). When Towson holds its opponent below 34.9 percent shooting, they are 13-0.
The team has also held its opponents to less than 10 points in a quarter 15 times this season. The Tigers most recently held Northeastern to nine points in the third quarter of action on Feb. 27.
The black & gold have registered nine double-digit steal games, led by a season-high 18 takeaway performance against Millersville. Aleah Nelson leads the squad with 35 total steals.
Towson has generated 555 total points this season off turnovers, for 19.1 points per game. When the team registers more steals than their opponent, they are undefeated, 16-0.
Taking Care of the Ball
Towson has done an exceptional job of taking care of the ball this season, ranking fourth in the league with a 1.83 turnover margin. The team is also third in the CAA in assist/turnover ratio (0.96).
Floor general Aleah Nelson has also been careful with the rock, as she ranks 12th nationally and first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.60).
When the Tigers have fewer turnovers than their opposition, they are 18-0.
Prolific Scoring
At least two Tigers have cracked double figures in 27 of 28 outings so far this season. Nelson has now scored 10+ points in 26 of 28 contests including the last 14 outings.
Six Tigers have also registered +20 point performances in Nelson, Allie Kubek, Anissa Rivera, Kylie Kornegay-Lucas, Rayne Tucker and Tarriyonna Gary. Nelson and Kubek pace the squad with five games over 20 points apiece.
Towson has had two players score 20 or more points four times this season:
- James Madison - Jan. 16 (Kubek-28, Rivera-20)
- Northeastern - Jan. 28 (Nelson-24, Kubek-22)
- Delaware - Feb. 9 (Nelson-24, Kubek-20)
- James Madison - Feb. 13 (Rivera-21, Kornegay-Lucas-20)
Making Some Noise
Towson moved up again to No. 18 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, released March 8. The team was previously ranked No. 16.
BYU (24-2) remains in the top spot while Princeton (22-4), FGCU (27-2), South Dakota (23-5) and South Dakota State (25-9) complete the top five.
Drexel (24-4, 16-2) leads the CAA in the poll as they are slotted at No. 12. Delaware (21-7, 15-3) sits at No. 21.
The Black & Gold are still highest ranked CAA team in the NCAA NET rankings, sitting at No. 79. Drexel comes in at No. 83 followed by Delaware at No. 96.
Coming Home
Five of 14 student-athletes on Towson's roster represent their home state of Maryland. Aleah Nelson is the lone Baltimore native while Allie Kubek (Elkton), Ryann Evans (Columbia), Rayne Tucker (New Carrollton) and Anissa Rivera (Capitol Heights) are also from close by.
In The Rankings
The Tigers continue to be among the best rebounding teams in the country, ranking seventh in total rebounds with 1,311 total boards. The team is seventh in rebounds per game (45.21) and 10th in offensive boards per game (15.8).
The team is also killing it on offense, ranked 20th in scoring offense (75.4) and 19th in scoring margin (14.1).
The Tigers currently rank top 40 in the nation in nine statistical categories.
Crashing The Boards
As one of the top-10 rebounding teams in the country, the black & gold have grabbed 40+ boards in all but three contests so far this season, including the last 15 of 17 outings. The team has also reached 50+ rebounds on five occasions.
Towson has either won the fight off the glass or tied in 20 games.
Anissa Rivera currently leads the team, averaging 7.3 boards per contest.
Scouting The Huskies
Northeastern has dropped seven of their last 10 games, most recently falling to Charleston, 73-64.
Kendall Currence, an All-CAA First Team selection, leads the team with 16.0 points per game. Donna Ntambue paces the team off the glass, averaging5.8 boards. CAA Rookie of the Year and All-Defensive team pick Claudia Soriano also plays a key role for the Huskies, averaging 3.8 assists and 3.0 steals per contest.
Next Up
The winner of the #3 Towson vs. #6 Northeastern game will go onto play of the #2 Delaware vs #7 William & Mary contest on March 12 at 3:30 p.m.
The championships will be held on Sunday, March 13 at 1 p.m.
Tigers in the Community
For the 7th consecutive year, the department exceeded 10,000 hours of community service to the Greater Baltimore region, finishing with 11,162 hours of community service in the 2018-19 academic season. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the Helper Helper NCAA Team Works Competition. Towson had a 97% participation rate, attended 118 community service opportunities and volunteered with 19 organizations. The Tigers won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.
