The Hofstra University women’s basketball team finished out one of its most magical runs in program history on Sunday, March 15, after their loss to the College of Charleston in the championship game of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Women’s Basketball Tournament. While the Pride were unable to punch their ticket to the big dance, this season will be looked back on as one of the most special and memorable in recent years.

Hofstra came into the tournament 8-21 and the 10th seed in the conference, barely receiving a first-round bye. The expectations around this team were a little different just before the tournament compared to where they were just two months prior, as the team went on a run to finish conference play. The Pride were once 3-18 and lost eight straight games with just one conference win; they ended the regular season 5-3 with three double-digit victories.

Throughout the season, Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson said that she believed the team had what it takes to win.

With their dominance of the bottom half of the conference in this stretch, it seemed that she might be right.

“We had talked about [our connection] early in the season, how connected we are as a team,” Santos said after the Pride’s win over Northeastern University. “That plays a role in what that looks like on the offensive side and the defensive side. There’s been a better connection on the floor with our team and amongst our team and so, defensively, they’ve been able to play better as a unit.”

Hofstra was slated for game four of the tournament against seventh seed Towson University. Coming into the game, Towson ended the year 3-1 with a +23-point differential. Their only loss came against Monmouth University, a six-point loss where Gigi Gamble scored 41 points on 14-20 from the field and 6-7 from 3-point range. Towson was 2-0 against the Pride with just a +4-win differential this season. The Tigers averaged just 52.5 points in the two games, while they were second in points per game in the CAA with 66.4.

“We held a team that has four people scoring in double digits [and] averages 70-75 points to 47,” Santos said after the first loss to Towson. “Lot of positives that we can pull from this game. We got to continue to work on putting that ball in the basket and down the stretch making sure that I have this team prepared to go and close it in the final seconds of the game.”

The game was as back-and-forth as it could possibly be, with Hofstra leading after the first and third quarters and Towson in the second quarter. The Tigers’ sixth Player of the Year and All-CAA Second Teamer, India Johnston, took over the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of her 21 in the final 10 minutes, including a step-back 3-pointer and an and-one floater to put Towson up four with a minute remaining. Chloe Sterling cut the lead to two, and Alarice Gooden made a great defensive play at the rim against the 6-foot-3-inch Hannah Dereje, which gave the Pride the final possession down 71-69 with 19.1 seconds to go.

Despite not being able to call a timeout on the final play, Santos and the Pride drew up a play to get the best shot possible. Nevaeh Brown took the ball up and passed it to Sterling to drain the clock. Gooden wrapped around the baseline through a screen to the right wing, which got Johnston – who was guarding Brown – out of a position to potentially double-team the ball handler. Emma Von Essen caught a pass while splitting between a double screen of Brown and Sandra Magolico to get Masyn Marchbanks off balance. A jab step and a step-back put Marchbanks on the ground, and Von Essen knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds to go.

Their next matchup was against the second seed Campbell University the following day. Santos stressed how important it was to have strong performances on short turnaround games; four of the Pride’s five wins during the regular season were games with just two days of rest. Despite opening the game ugly with eight points and seven turnovers in the first quarter, Campbell was right there with them.

Hofstra led 39-32 going into the fourth quarter, playing some of their best defense of the season. At this point, the Fighting Camels were 2-17 from 3-point range with 10 straight misses. Magolico totaled four steals herself. Campbell tied the game at 44 from a 7-0 run with three minutes left, and the next two minutes featured no points from either side. Ema Karim knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game to break the spell, and Gooden put the game to bed with a wild hop-step layup. Hofstra became the first 10 seed in CAA history to make the semifinals.

“I kind of know it’s my last go around, so [Santos] always tells me to just play free, have confidence,” Gooden said. “We have no pressure on us; you guys saw the results. None of us, no one on our team won any [CAA Women’s Basketball Major Awards], so we’re all playing free, and we’re all playing with a chip on our shoulders.”

The Pride’s next matchup was against third seed Drexel University. The previous matchups against the Dragons were not the prettiest, with the Pride losing by an average of 21.5 points and scoring just 47 points per game. Drexel was the most efficient team in the CAA, meaning Hofstra would have to make minimal mistakes to pull this one out.

This game, like many games this season and tournament, opened ugly. After an early Pride lead to end the first quarter, Drexel went on a dominant run in the second quarter, holding Hofstra to five points on 2-14 shooting and led the Pride 22-19. The third quarter was sloppy at first with missed layups and turnovers but was cleaned up toward the end. The Pride held the Dragons to just two points with under five minutes to go, taking the lead going into the final 10.

Hofstra played great defense in the fourth, but their offense stalled, scoring just seven points in the first seven minutes. Drexel led by four with just under two minutes remaining. Sana’a Garrett grabbed an offensive rebound to cut the lead to two and, with good defense, the Pride once again had a chance to win one in the final seconds. Gooden missed the tying layup, forcing Hofstra to foul. Drexel’s inbound with nine seconds left was stolen by Sterling, who found Magolico under the basket for the layup to send the game to overtime.

With minimal scoring in the period, Hofstra led 48-46 with a little over a minute to go. Off a missed Gooden 3-pointer, Magolico made the play of the season, tipping the ball to Karim, who gave it right back to Magolico for the and-one, which put Hofstra up five. Drexel couldn’t come back, and the Pride were the lowest seed to ever make it to the championship game in CAA history.

“‘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.”

The final game of the tournament run was against first seed Charleston. The Cougars were the highest scoring and best defensive team in the conference.

Charleston had the CAA Player of the Year, Taryn Barbot; the Defensive Player of the Year, Grace Ezebilo; and the Coach of the Year, Charleston head coach Robin Harmony. Two players made the All-CAA Team and two made the All-CAA Defensive Team.

This was the biggest uphill battle this season for Hofstra. Their last matchup against Charleston reinforced that, as they lost by 17 points.

The first quarter was once again ugly for Hofstra. Charleston went on an 11-0 run and totaled seven turnovers. The Cougars didn’t look invincible, with their star player and the rest of the team not shooting the best. This was much clearer in the second quarter, with Hofstra going on a 9-0 run, which tied the game and gave Hofstra the lead at halftime. Barbot was quiet, and Hofstra had all the momentum.

All hope for the Pride was cut short in the third quarter, with Barbot and the rest of the Charleston team going on one of their most dominant runs of the season. It came when they needed it most.

The Cougars opened the quarter with a 17-0 run, with Hofstra not scoring for the first five and a half minutes. Von Essen broke the run with a 3-pointer, and the Pride eventually cut the lead to as little as nine in the fourth quarter. The barrage of 3-pointers didn’t end, and Charleston came out CAA Champions.

“This team played their hearts out the entire tournament,” Santos said. “The way they showed up here, the way that they fought this entire weekend is just so special. I couldn’t be more proud of the way they played.”

It was a tough moment in addition to the fact that seven members of the Pride won’t be returning to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex in November. With some of the graduating seniors being transfers and some being homegrown, the impact that these players left on the program will be felt and missed.

“You have [Gooden] and [Von Essen], who’ve been here four years with this program, and [Sterling, who has] been here for two [years],” Santos said. “[It] feels like forever. When you talk about not only great players but great people – [I] not only took a chance on [Sterling] but [Sterling] took a chance on us. What she’s done and what [Gooden and Von Essen have] done as a part of our program and having players that are loyal – four years – it’s hard to have four-year kids nowadays, and to have those stick around with our program [and] then do what they’ve done in their senior year is just special.”

More freshman involvement is expected next year, as this team is going to look extremely different for the first time in a while. Hofstra will look to some players who didn’t get much time on the hardwood, such as Michaela Hodge and Olivia VanPatten, as well as increased roles for those who helped push the Pride forward, like Micaela Carter.