Not every athlete picks up the game they love at a young age, and even fewer get to play at the collegiate level. For Emma Von Essen, who now is graduating after spending all four years at Hofstra University, basketball has been there at every stage.
Before she was born, Von Essen’s father founded Game 7 Sports Inc., an organization based in Rockville Centre, New York, where students can progress their skills in a variety of sports through programs and summer camps. At around 5-years-old, she picked up basketball for the first time.
“I played other sports growing up, but basketball I was doing every day,” Von Essen said. “I was playing with boys. I was playing in outdoor city leagues with boys, crazy stuff.”
When she was in high school, Von Essen played for the Long Island Lutheran Middle & High School basketball team, where she would have an illustrious career. She was a top 100 player on Long Island in 2021, began her senior season ranked 22nd in the country by ESPN and led the Lady Crusaders to as high as fourth in the nation as a junior.
“No other team is traveling across the country to go to games, [but the Lutheran High School team] actually just went to Japan this year,” Von Essen said. “It also reconnects [us] in college [because] all of my [former] teammates are playing in college too.”
Her former coach, Christina Raiti, had a reputation for not going easy on the team during practice.
“When I got to college, I was like, ‘This isn’t even worse than my high school practices,’ which I promise no one else can say,” Von Essen said. “The conditioning, the terminology, the speed, the coaches and how they yell at you – [Lutheran High] prepared me 100 percent.”
The college decision wasn’t too hard for Von Essen. Having played on Hofstra’s court as a young girl and being as close to home as she was, it felt like fate.
“Playing on the court, it’s like ‘Wow, I did this when I was 8-years-old, except the basket looked a lot scarier back then,’” Von Essen said. “On my visit, they actually showed a video of one of the players I used to watch, Nicole Capurso, talking to me and telling me to come to the school. It was a full-circle moment for me; it already felt like home.”
The home crowd was always louder for Von Essen as her family would show out at every game at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
“My mom’s parents always come super early because they live down the block and they always sit in the same spots,” Von Essen said. “Then, my other grandparents and my parents would come in; then my brothers would come in; then my cousins would come in; then my aunts, uncles, everyone. When I was in high school, I didn’t like when people came to my games, I’m not sure why, but then in college I started to love it.”
Von Essen’s relationship with Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson and her family is something that she will take with her beyond college.
“I feel like we have a lot of similarities in our mindset and our work ethic; I feel like our minds just kind of worked when we were with each other,” Von Essen said. “I just fell in love with her family, her kids and how she’s a mom but also [coaching]. Sticking with her for four years was great.”
Most freshmen don’t get much playing time, if any at all. Santos believed in Von Essen’s ability and praised her confidence after her first career start against Long Island University. Von Essen finished the game with 17 points, two steals, four made 3-pointers and the game-sealing free throws.
“[Von Essen] comes out, and she plays with confidence; she had a huge impact for us,” Santos said postgame. “She came out, [and] she’s looking to score. She’s a freshman, we talk about that, and we talk about having grace through some of those mistakes. That confidence and that aggressiveness has got to be there, and she does that really well as a freshman.”
Her humility shows when looking back on this game, claiming it wasn’t that good of a game. Seventeen points for a freshman in her first start is something most players would dream of. When featured in post-game press conferences, her performances are always at the grace of her teammates. Trash-talk or outward confidence isn’t in her nature.
“When other players talk down on people, especially in basketball, it’s kind of crazy,’” Von Essen said. “I’m like ‘Nobody’s perfect, you have no right to down somebody else because you’re not this insane player. You haven’t accomplished everything.’ I don’t talk crap to anybody; I try to stay composed because let’s say I do get out of myself and go crazy, then the next possession I turn the ball over – you look stupid.”
Her senior season was one that was filled with many emotions. After her first career start in her freshman season, Von Essen started 71 of her next 72 games. Against University of Kentucky in her senior season, Santos decided to play Von Essen off the bench.
“I definitely struggled my senior year with confidence because I was starting as a freshman, and now I’m not starting as a senior,” Von Essen said. “I’m thinking, ‘What is going on; am I not good?’”
Despite the portal acquisitions and returning players becoming upperclassmen, it wasn’t the season they had hoped. Hofstra reached a nightmarish 3-18 record and 1-8 in conference play on an eight-game losing streak. Everyone in the building and even other teams in the conference knew they were better than that.
“It felt like a fever dream; it made no sense,” Von Essen said. “We know we’re the most talented team in the [conference. Santos] would shake hands with the opposing coach, and they’d say we have the best team, but we would lose the game.”
That mindset was all the Pride needed. Down the stretch they finally put it together. The Pride went 5-3 in the final eight games going into the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament with multiple double-digit wins. They matched up against Towson University in their first game, and Von Essen made one of the biggest shots in program history.
Hofstra forced a miss with less than 20 seconds remaining down two points. Unable to inbound from the half court off the timeout, the Pride were forced to advance the full 94 feet. Santos drew up the play for Von Essen to take the final shot, and you’d think that taking the final shot in what could be the final game of your collegiate career would be nerve-racking, right?
“I’m sitting on the bench, down two and I’m fine,” Von Essen said. “I don’t know why I was so, so calm. It’s like I didn’t even know what was going on. We’re in the huddle, and the play gets drawn up for me, and that’s the coolest thing because I either want to win the game or lose the game for my team, as a senior. I have to do that.”
Nevaeh Brown took the ball up and passed it to Chloe Sterling to drain the clock. Von Essen ran by the baseline and caught a pass while splitting between an elevator screen from Sandra Magolico and Brown. A jab step and a step-back put Masyn Marchbanks on the ground, and Von Essen knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer with less than three seconds to go.
“I didn’t even realize [I broke Marchbanks’ ankles] until I watched it after,” Von Essen said. “I didn’t know she fell. The best part, she was the same one who was clapping in my face during the game. I’ve never had someone clap in my face like that before. Look what happens, she looks bad at the end of the game.”
The conference didn’t have the storybook ending everyone was hoping for, but the run was special, and the program left a mark on Von Essen’s life.
“[Hofstra has meant] so much more than words,” Von Essen said. “Now that it’s ending, I don’t want to leave. It’s so sad because I’ve built so much and made so many connections and memories, and now it’s just over. When am I gonna get that in another part of my life?”
Despite not looking to play professionally during her come up, this might not be the final chapter for Von Essen’s basketball career.
Jessica Bogia, who previously was an assistant coach with the Pride, became the head coach of the Jacksonville Waves in September 2025. The Waves are a brand-new team in the UpShot League, a professional women’s basketball league under former WNBA president Donna Orender. Bogia made it a priority to have Von Essen try out for the team.
“We have 14 people [on the team] and six of them have played in the WNBA before,” Von Essen said. “There’s a girl that’s 33 years old. I’m 22 and the youngest one here. I should not be here, honestly. but it’s such a great opportunity that [Bogia] has given me.”
Von Essen will graduate from Hofstra second all-time in 3-pointers with 244 made for a women’s basketball player and tied for third all-time in games played with 127.
