After a huge victory over the reigning conference champions, the Hofstra University women’s basketball team was overpowered by Elon University in a dominating 70-51 victory on Sunday, Jan. 19. The loss put the Pride at 3-2 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
The Pride’s offense struggled with production, shooting 39% from the field to Elon’s 50%. The Phoenix also looked strong on the boards, recording a total of 38 rebounds in the matchup.
Raven Preston recorded a double-double for Elon and was the center of the Phoenix’s gameplay, recording 16 points and 10 boards in just 33 minutes.
Ramatoulaye Keita led the Pride with 15 points and a field goal percentage of 66.7%. Chloe Sterling did not play a large role in the offense early on, however, in the second half, she got hot and recorded a total of 12 points on the day.
Hofstra and Elon started the game with an exciting back-and-forth action as both teams found themselves struggling to keep possession of the ball, with the Pride turning over the ball seven times, and the Phoenix turning it over six times. Of the Phoenix’s 13 shot attempts, six were good.
In the last seconds of the first quarter, Elon drew a foul and made both shots from the charity stripe, putting them up 15-13. The momentum heading into the second quarter appeared to be shifting to the Phoenix, as the Pride finished the quarter on a two minute and 22 second scoring drought.
Preston was a force in the second quarter, putting up eight points on two threes and collecting three boards. She helped to improve the Elon field goal percentage to 50% in the quarter.
The Pride struggled to convert shots into points in the second quarter, shooting a field goal percentage of just 37.5%, however, Hofstra cleaned up their ball handling, only turning the ball over twice.
Elon got hot in the third quarter, scoring 20 points and earning themselves a double-digit lead. Their third-quarter push included an 8-0 scoring run that featured three perfect shot attempts from the field.
The Phoenix shot 7-16 from the field and forced fouled. They capitalized on opportunities from the charity stripe, going 6-6.
The Hofstra offense slowed down throughout the second half, ending the third quarter with a 4:49 scoring drought. They tallied a total of 12 points on a field goal percentage of 30.8%. Despite the slowdown in offensive production, Sterling warmed up, producing five points in the quarter. Heading into the final quarter, the Pride trailed Elon 53-41.
Elon continued to strike in the final 10 minutes, producing another 17 points on the day. They dominated on the field, slashing 63.6% from the field.
The Pride were not able to find their offensive rhythm, shooting 4-11 from the field. Sterling produced six of Hofstra’s 10 points in the quarter.
Hofstra returns home to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Friday, Jan. 24. They look to bounce back against Campbell University. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
