Tesha Tinsley, Class of 2000, has been elected to the Northeastern University Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of basketball.
Tinsley is arguably the greatest guard in NU history, ending her career as the all-time Huskies scorer with 2,187 points and all-time assist leader with 464. She came to Northeastern from Western High School in Baltimore as an All-City and All-State selection as a senior. However, she was only a partial qualifier and by NCAA rules could not play her freshman year.
In her first season of 1996-97 she was an instant success. Although the Huskies suffered their second consecutive losing season with a 4-23 record, Tinsley averaged 16.9 points per game and her total of 456 was the most ever by a freshman. She was voted to the America East All-Rookie team and All-Conference second team.
In her second year, the Huskies made great strides finishing 15-13 and losing to eventual champion Maine by only seven points (77-70) in the league tournament. She became the first Husky ever to lead the team in points (528), rebounds (139), assists (122) and steals (67) in the same season. Tinsley averaged 18.9 points per game and was voted first-team All-Conference.
Her third year of 1998-99 proved to be the greatest in Northeastern women's basketball history. The Huskies finished 13-5 in America East, 22-8 overall, won the league title with a 57-55 upset over Maine and earned their first ever invite to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to North Carolina, 64-55.
Tinsley set the NU season record for points with 637. With 143 assists, she figured in 51.1 percent of NU baskets to lead the nation in that category. She averaged 21.2 points per game, was voted first-team All-Conference, All-Tournament and the tournament MVP.
As Tinsley had been working hard on the court she had been working equally hard in the classroom and earned enough credits to graduate in four years. This led the NCAA, who had stripped her of her first year as a partial qualifier, to grant her a fourth season.
The team finished 17-13 for its third consecutive winning season and Tinsley averaged 18.9 points per game and earned her third consecutive first-team All-Conference honors. The 5'6 captain became the first and only Husky to score over 2,000 points. She holds all NU scoring records for game (41), season (637), and career (2,187). She also holds the career records for assists (464) and steals (281).
