WASHINGTON, D.C. – Center Angelina Pelayo sank a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to lift 13th-seeded UNCW to a 51-50 victory over No. 12 Northeastern in the opening game of the 2026 Credit Union 1 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at CareFirst Arena.
It was the first CAA Tournament win since 2021 for the Seahawks, who advance to play No. 5 Monmouth in second-round action at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Northeastern’s season came to an end with a 7-22 record.
Kylah Silver recorded a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to pace UNCW. Mary Ferrito and Pelayo added 10 points apiece. Northeastern got a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds from Morgan Matthews and 11 points and eight boards from Nariyah Simmons.
The closely fought contest was tied at 39-39 entering the fourth quarter, but UNCW held the Huskies without a field goal for more than five minutes and put together an 8-2 spurt keyed by five points from Torin Rogers to take a 47-41 lead with 5:16 remaining. Northeastern responded by reeling off nine consecutive points and went on top, 50-47, after a bucket in the lane by Justice Tramble with 1:56 on the clock.
Pelayo hit two free throws with 41.2 seconds left to bring UNCW within one and then was fouled while driving to the hoop in the final seconds, setting up the game-winning shots from the charity stripe. The Huskies were unable to convert a final shot at the buzzer.
Northeastern closed the first quarter on a 7-0 spurt to go up 19-13. A McCall King three-pointer put UNCW ahead 13-12, but the Huskies answered with a trey by Simmons and buckets in the lane from Camryn Collins and Matthews to take their largest lead of the game.
The Seahawks scored the first five points of the second quarter on a Rogers three and a pair of Pelayo free throws to trim the deficit to one. Northeastern responded with an 8-2 run, with the final six points coming from Simmons, to push their advantage to seven (27-20) with 2:05 left in the period. The Huskies would take a 29-24 lead into halftime.
UNCW tallied eight of the first 10 points to open the third period, going ahead 32-31 on a Ferrito jumper. The teams traded the lead twice and were tied twice through the rest of the quarter, with Northeastern tying the game at 39-39 after a steal and layup from Maria Sanchez-Pitarch.
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