WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Senior guard Lacey Suggs scored 18 points, including the 1,000th of her college career, as UNCW earned its second win in a row, a 61-48 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball victory over Northeastern at Trask Coliseum on Friday evening.
 
The win vaulted the Seahawks' record to 8-18 overall and 5-10 in the CAA while Northeastern dropped to 12-15 overall with an 8-8 mark in the circuit.
 
Suggs, one of three UNCW players to reach double figures, became the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the opening minutes of the second half when she knocked down a three-pointer that gave the Seahawks a 27-19 lead.
 
The White Lake, N.C., product finished the game shooting 5-for-6 from the field and 7-of-8 at the foul line while grabbing six rebounds with two steals.
 
Redshirt senior guard GiGi Smith came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points, including 19 in the second half. Smith converted 5 of 11 shots from the floor and was 10-for-12 at the charity stripe.
 
Senior guard Ahyiona Vason chipped in 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and a 2-for-4 showing from the free throw line while adding four assists and three steals.
 
Northeastern, which lost for the fifth time in the last seven games, was led by 12 points off the bench from freshman guard Mossi Staples. Senior forward Ayanna Dublin and sophomore guard Kendall Currence each tallied 10 points in the setback.  
 
Key Moment: The Seahawks, who never trailed in the contest, broke a 6-all tie by scoring nine consecutive points, including three points from junior Jessica Munoz, to take a 15-6 lead with 59.2 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. UNCW led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter en route to the victory.
 
Game Notes:

• UNCW ended a three-game losing streak in the series against Northeastern with Friday's victory … The Huskies still hold a 17-11 advantage in the all-time series.
• Suggs becomes the first UNCW player to reach 1,000 career points in a Seahawk uniform since Kelva Atkins during the 2014-15 campaign … Suggs now has 1,002 points in her career.
• Suggs is also the second player on this year's roster to reach 1,000 career points … Smith netted her 1,000th career point on Dec. 19 against Catawba, but only has 810 points in two seasons at UNCW after transferring from Old Dominion.
• The Seahawks held Northeastern to 0-for-7 shooting from three-point range, marking the first time a UNCW opponent failed to make a three-point field goal since South Carolina State was 0-for-8 on Nov. 16, 2019.
• The Seahawks outrebounded an opponent for the second straight game after holding a 35-26 advantage on the glass against Northeastern.
• UNCW went 20-for-30 at the free throw line against Northeastern on Friday night … The 20 made free throws and 30 free throw attempts are the second-most by the Seahawks in a game this season.
• Suggs has reached double figures in seven of her last nine games and has five or more rebounds in eight of the last 10 contests.
• Vason has netted 10 or more points in 9 of her last 11 games after scoring 12 points on Friday night.
• Smith produced the 13th 20-point game of her college career, including the sixth 20-point effort this season … It is also her 18th double-digit performance of the season.

Up Next: UNCW wraps up the home portion of its 2019-20 regular season schedule on Sunday, Mar. 1, when the Seahawks face Hofstra at 1 p.m. The Seahawks will honor their six seniors in a pre-game ceremony.  

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