The Hofstra University women’s basketball team are coming off the heels of their best regular season under head coach Danielle Santos-Atkinson, with a 14-15 record overall and a 9-9 mark in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
The Pride enter the conference tournament as the eight seed, their highest seed in a non-COVID-19 shortened season since the 2015-16 campaign. This is also their first time receiving a first-round bye in a full season since the 2016 season.
Hofstra’s season looked dead in the water just a few weeks ago since on Feb. 16, they fell 61-51 to Northeastern University in their seventh loss in a row. In addition, Chloe Sterling was dealing with a knee injury which would eventually end her season, and LaNae’ Corbett was fighting through an injury as well.
On Feb. 23, however, the switch flipped. The Pride won a tight 57-54 game against Monmouth University and they’ve scrapped out win after win since. They’ve won in every fashion in the last few weeks. They won a low scoring rock fight 53-47 against Hampton University on Feb. 28, and a back-and-forth shootout 73-70 against Stony Brook University on Thursday, March 6. Along with those games, Hofstra two blowout wins against Northeastern 69-53 on Saturday, March 8, and the College of William & Mary 54-34 on Sunday, March 2, the latter being Hofstra’s first opponent in the second round.
In the Pride’s 54-34 win over the Tribe, Hofstra dominated the boards, outrebounding William & Mary 45-33. Zyheima Swint led both teams with 11 points and 13 rebounds, for her fifth double-double of the season.
The Tribe’s offense has been in the middle of the pack all season, finishing seventh in the conference at 60.2 points per game. Their attack is led by senior guard Bella Nascimento, who has had an up-and-down season, with some incredible offensive outbursts, with 12 games of 20 points or more. However, she’s inconsistent and has played seven games this season where she has been held below 10 points, including the Tribe’s one matchup with Hofstra when she only scored four points on 2-19 shooting.
Defensively, the Tribe have struggled all year and could have issues containing a rejuvenated Pride offense, who have topped 69 points in their last two games.
A win against the Tribe would earn Hofstra a date with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T), the CAA regular season champions. The Aggies dominated the Association this season with a 15-3 conference record. Their defense has been suffocating all year, only allowing 54.7 points per game, good for the 12th-lowest mark in the country.
Offensively, N.C. A&T have been solid all year as well, scoring 64.1 points per game, good for fourth in the CAA. Their offense is led by the three-headed monster of Jordyn Dorsey, Maleia Bracone and Paris Locke, all of whom score at least 10 points per game.
In the one matchup between Hofstra and N.C. A&T this season, the Aggies came to Hempstead and dominated on Jan. 26, turning a halftime deficit into a 63-44 win.
Hofstra’s path to a title is far from easy: they need to win four games in four days if they want to win their first-ever conference title and make their first-ever NCAA Championship tournament appearance. They’re riding a wave of momentum that few teams can match and are playing like a team that’s ready to turn some heads.
They begin their quest for a CAA Championship on Thursday, March 12, at 12 p.m. at CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C. against William & Mary.
