The Hofstra University women’s basketball team continued to make history by becoming the lowest-seeded team in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) history to reach the CAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship. The 10th seed Pride knocked off the third seed Drexel University in a 53-49 overtime stunner, beating two of the top three seeds in the conference.
“If we look back throughout the season, [the games against Drexel] were probably two of some of our worst games of the season,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson.
The first quarter was marked by the Dragons scoring only jump shots for the first seven minutes of the contest. Ema Karim kept the Pride in front 14-11 at the end of the quarter with a pair of buckets, including a 3-pointer. Multiple Hofstra turnovers led Drexel to an 11-0 run, taking the lead for the first time since only eight minutes and 51 seconds remained in the first. Michaela Hodge’s limited presence was once again felt, with her getting a block seconds after checking in late in the quarter. Drexel led going into halftime 22-19 with both teams playing sloppier than usual.
It wasn’t a pretty shooting night for either team early on. Drexel’s 35.7% from the field was very off-brand for the CAA’s most efficient offense, and Hofstra’s 25.9% and 23.1% from 3-point range weren’t doing them any favors. Though Hofstra did lead Drexel in the turnover-battle they’ve done often. The Dragons averaged the fewest turnovers per game in the CAA; Hofstra’s defense was putting them in a spot to win this game.
It was back and forth from the start of the fourth, with neither team leading by more than two after Karim’s 3-pointer. Amanda Baker broke this streak with a tough layup to put Drexel up by four, which was immediately answered by Karim with a midrange. Another Baker circus layup put the Dragons back up four, with a clutch offensive rebound and follow-up layup by guard Sana’a Garrett cut it to two. Baker finally missed, giving Hofstra a chance to tie the game.
Alarice Gooden, who has stepped up big for Hofstra in nearly every tournament game for the last three years, missed a layup with 9.2 seconds remaining. Drexel, having to inbound due to a timeout called on the rebound, had it taken away by Sterling. She then found Sandra Magolico under the basket for the game-tying layup with 3.6 seconds remaining. Drexel was unable to get a shot off, sending the game to overtime.
The overtime period continued a back-and-forth with Hofstra leading 48-46 with possession. Frome there, one of the most electric plays of the season unfolded. Gooden missed a 3-pointer and Magolico jumped to tip the miss right into Karim’s hands. Magolico slammed onto the hardwood, got back up, got it inside and hit the and-one, putting Hofstra up 51-46 with 29.2 seconds left. After a series of free throws, the Pride were off to the championship game.
“[Magolico] is just a worker; she comes in, she works every single day and out there on the floor, I don’t know if I know a post player that plays harder than her,” Santos said. “She’s after it every single ball – every loose ball [and] every rebound – she’s all over the place.
Even after a series of games where Karim wasn’t shooting many times, she pushed the Pride one step closer to the ultimate goal. She finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds and two steals on three 3-pointers.
“My team was finding me, and I was just making my shots like we practiced every day,” Karim said. “I have seniors to look up to, and they help me every step [of the way].”
Santos had nothing but high praise for the sophomore from Portugal, speaking on how committed she was to the team even in her limited time with the team over the summer.
“[Karim] said, ‘Coach, I want to come,’” Santos said. “I said, ‘[Karim], we’re only gonna have a week or two left of the summer, maybe a week and a half’ – she hadn’t been home to see her family yet. She finished with her national team – I want to say on July 20 – and on July 21, she was in New York with [Hofstra].”
After shooting 3-13 from beyond the arc with four assists in the first half, the Pride closed out the game 3-5 with seven assists. Hofstra has made it a mission to improve their assist numbers when lacking early and now, capitalized on it in back-to-back tournament games.
The Pride played their last CAA Tournament game on Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m. against the conference’s first seed, the College of Charleston. After four straight days of games, the fatigue has not yet set in for the most clutch team in the CAA.
“‘Tired’ is not even in our vocabulary,” Santos said. “It means more to us, and they are more than willing to give it everything that they have.”
