The Hofstra University women’s basketball team ultimately fell to UNC-Wilmington (UNCW), 70-67, in a nail-biting overtime matchup. The Pride now fall to 9-10 for the season and 4-4 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Seahawks improved to 11-10 and 5-3 to overtake the Pride in the CAA standings.
Hofstra and UNCW were evenly matched from the field, shooting 44% and 42%, respectively, however, turnovers were the deciding factor in Hofstra’s loss. UNCW played strong defense, forced several turnovers with four blocks and eight steals on the day.
The Pride turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 18 points for the Seahawks off their mistakes. Hofstra was only able to manage four points from 12 UNCW turnovers.
UNCW’s bench outscored Hofstra’s reserves 21-16 with UNCW’s Evan Miller contributing 12 of those points on 5-of-8 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Pride was unable to stop the Seahawks’ top scorer Ali Zelaya who dished out a career-high 22 points. Zelaya went 7-of-16 from the field, going eight for nine from the charity stripe as the Pride had no answer for her. In addition to her powerful defense, Zelaya grabbed 13 boards with three on the offensive end, contributing to nine second chance points for UNCW.
Tia Dobson from UNCW was another problem for the Pride, recording 16 points in the matchup.
Zyheima Swint led the Pride with 14 points in 21 minutes of playtime. Swint was effective on the court, converting seven of her eight attempts.
Emma Von Essen knocked down three shots from beyond the arc, finishing with 11 points. Ramatoulaye Keita and Chloe Sterling provided solid performances with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
UNCW started off slow in the first half but were able to make up for lost ground. The Pride finished the first quarter leading 22-15, however, the Seahawks slowly ate away at the Pride’s lead in the second quarter. The Seahawks improved their shooting, getting good looks and putting up 22 points, improving their field goal percentage from 42.9% to 60%.
After the half, Hofstra’s ball handling got sloppy, as they allowed six turnovers in each of the final two quarters of regulation.
The Pride struggled to find offensive production in the fourth quarter, shooting just 25% from the field and only putting up seven points. UNCW, on the other hand, took control of the floor and tied up the game to force overtime.
The Seahawks got the scoring going in overtime, putting up two good layups, the second of which coming off another Hofstra turnover. Von Essen responded with a three to make it a one-point game but after a back and forth of unsuccessful attempts from both teams, and only seconds left on the clock, Hofstra was forced to foul. The Seahawks sealed the game with two good free throws as the Pride failed to tie with a last second shot.
Hofstra hit the hardwood again on Sunday, Feb. 2, against Elon University. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
