Steal after steal after steal. Quinnipiac guard Mackenzie DeWees led the Bobcats Tuesday night defensively with a career-high seven steals and was even close to breaking a Quinnipiac Women’s record for steals in a game. 

Quinnipiac pulled away late in Tuesday’s game to take the win against the Northeastern Huskies, 69-58. It was a close game throughout the first three quarters. 

At the end of one, the Huskies had a one-point lead. At halftime, the Bobcats were able to give themselves a two-point lead. And at the end of three quarters, the game was tied at 46. 

It was not until a late push by Quinnipiac that helped it outscore Northeastern by a score of 23-12 in the fourth quarter, giving them the 11-point win. 

At the half, Northeastern guard Kendall Currence had scored 16 points, driving all over and scoring at ease. At the end of the game, Currence had a total of 18 points. Bobcats coach Tricia Fabbri credited her coaching staff for helping the team shut down Currence and only allowing her to score two second-half points.

“We made slight adjustments to what we were doing defensively in transition and our half-court D,” Fabbri said. “That (changed) what we originally wanted to do when she was slicing up all of it.”

Those half-court adjustments helped the Bobcats force the Huskies to turn the ball over 23 times, almost doubling Quinnipiac’s total of 14 turnovers. 

Typically a great shooting team, Quinnipiac powered through a rough shooting night to come out with the win. They shot 42% from the field and 23% from deep, both of which are below the team’s typical average. 

Despite the team’s shooting woes, the Bobcats still had three players reach double-digits. Junior guard Makenzie Helms put up a game-high and career-high 15 points. Additionally, junior forward Mikala Morris tallied 14 points and DeWees put up 12. Senior guard Rose Caverly and junior forward Cur’Tiera Haywood fell just short of the double-digit mark by putting up nine points each. 

Helms, in her first year at Quinnipiac after transferring from Nebraska, has become a big playmaker for this Bobcats team, averaging eight points, three rebounds, and two assists per game. 

“She just gets us going,” Morris said about Helms. “She’s given our team a kind of swagger, she’s kinda like a fancy, flashy guard.” 

In just six games with Quinnipiac, Helms has already more than doubled the point total that she recorded at her time with Nebraska.

In addition to her seven steals, DeWees impacted the game in every aspect, posting 12 points, 12 boards and a game-high four assists. After recording her eighth career double-double, DeWees fell just three steals short of recording her first career triple-double. 

Both the Bobcats and the Huskies battled for rebounds with Quinnipiac out rebounding Northeastern 37-31. Quinnipiac dominated the offensive boards, tallying 17 offensive rebounds with eight second-chance points. 

Quinnipiac improved to 5-3 with the win, and Northeastern fell to 6-3.

With the win, Quinnipiac finished off its three-game homestand with a sweep. The Bobcats will travel to face the Providence Friars on Saturday, Dec. 11. After a quick two-game road trip, visiting both Providence and Rider, the Bobcats will be back at the People’s United Center on Dec. 20 when they face off against the Fairfield Stags.