The Hofstra University women’s basketball team was defeated in a down-to-the-wire 58-56 loss to Elon University. Now 3-2 in their last five Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) games, the Pride are 6-20 on the season and 4-11 in conference standings.
“This one hurt. They come down the stretch and you get a final shot like that. You at least want an opportunity to take it into overtime,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “I’m proud of this team, and how they work.”
The Pride opened the game strong, running in transition and playing aggressive. The Pride led 12-4 late in the first but got cold, allowing Elon to go on a big run. After a scoreless nine minutes which saw 15 points from the Phoenix, Ema Karim and Sandra Magolico brought the Pride back in the game to end the half down 25-23. The game was back-and-forth for all 40 minutes.
“The resiliency that [the Pride have] shown this season has been phenomenal,” Santos said. “We just talk about the parallels of sport and life, this year for them is 20 years from now going to play out and it’s going to be a great learning lesson.”
Hofstra’ offense stalled in both the second and third quarters, with their defense keeping them in the game. The Pride shot a combined 8-29 with 9 turnovers in both quarters. The fourth quarter was a whole different story, with Hofstra shooting 9-16 and only turning the ball over twice. The Pride were down 57-46 with just under six minutes remaining, and while they outscored the Phoenix 10-1 it wasn’t enough to get the win.
Hofstra had two opportunities to win the game in the last 15 seconds. Former Hofstra forward LaNae’ Corbett blocked a Chloe Sterling shot with two seconds left, after Elon split their free throws to increase their lead to 58-56. Nevaeh Brown received the inbound pass and got herself open, but her game-tying shot attempt rang in and out of the basket as time expired.
“We were looking to get something going to the basket, we wanted something close in,” Santos said, “We had multiple options out of that play, we had a great look.”
Sterling’s strong second half was one of the main reasons Hofstra was able to stay in the game, shooting 5-8 from the field with zero turnovers. She finished the game with 16 points.
Hofstra went to New Jersey to take on Monmouth University on Sunday, March 1, at 3 p.m. The Pride fell 59-54 to the Hawks on Feb. 6.
