Monmouth became the first No. 7 seed since 2011 to reach the finals of the CAA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Primis, battling past No. 3 Northeastern, 73-60, on Saturday afternoon at SECU Arena.

The Hawks (17-15), who have knocked off two of the three teams that shared the CAA regular-season title, will face the third, No. 1 Towson for the conference championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern. 

Northeastern, which had its nine-game winning streak come to an end, fell to 19-12 after the loss.

Guards Kaci Donovan and Brianna Tinsley led a balanced Monmouth scoring effort with 14 points apiece. The Hawks also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Lovin Marsicano and 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks from post player Belle Kranbuhl.

Junior Deja Bristol came off the bench to pace Northeastern with 15 points and nine rebounds. Derin Erdogan tallied 13 points, and JaMiya Braxton added 10 points for the Huskies.

Did you miss any of the excitement of today's @MUHawksWBB semifinals win over No. 3 Northeastern?? Check out the highlights as we get ready for tomorrow's CAA Championship!!#FlyHawks pic.twitter.com/nNY34aOM7p

— Monmouth Hawks (@MonmouthHawks) March 12, 2023

Monmouth was able to break open a tight game by shooting 51.7% from the floor in the second half. The Hawks were especially impressive from 3-point range, hitting 7-of-13 from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

Monmouth sprinted out to a 12-2 start, hitting five of its first seven shots, including consecutive treys from Donovan and Marsicano. Northeastern climbed back within 16-12 at the end of the opening quarter after an Erdogan layup in the final minute.

The Huskies scored the first 10 points of the second period and went up 22-16 following an Asha Parker layup. 

NU kept the lead for the remainder of the stanza and took a 30-26 advantage into halftime. 

The Huskies got at least two points from all eight players who saw action in the first 20 minutes.

The Hawks came flying out of the locker room, putting together a 9-0 spurt that was capped by a Donovan trey to go ahead 35-32 three minutes into the third period. 

Northeastern drew even, at 38 on a Bristol bucket with 4:19 to go. However, Monmouth reeled off the final 10 points of the quarter and matched its largest lead of the game, 48-38, on Ariana Vanderhoop’s three-point play.

Just keep dancing @MUHawksWBB!! Monmouth took out 3 seed Northeastern by a 73-60 score on Saturday and will play for the CAA Championship on Sunday!!#FlyHawks pic.twitter.com/SXXPuDpCkU

— Monmouth Hawks (@MonmouthHawks) March 12, 2023

Monmouth was able to keep a comfortable margin throughout the fourth quarter. 

Northeastern trimmed the deficit to seven with 4:08 to go, but Tinsley delivered a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:45 left that stopped the momentum.

Monmouth shot 44.8% from the floor for the game and hit 10-of-25 from 3-point range. Northeastern shot 40.3% and was 5-of-23 from beyond the arc.