By Kevin Carroll – ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Hofstra women’s basketball team continued their hot start to the season Thursday night at the Mack Sports Complex, throttling the previously unbeaten University of Buffalo 79-36.

On paper, this one looked to be a marquee matchup between 6-0 Buffalo and the 5-1 Pride. But the Pride took it to the Bulls from the opening tip, opening up a 15 point halftime lead before riding a 23-0 run to finish out the game, thrashing the Bulls by a commanding 43 points.

“Just a wonderful team win against a really good team, coming in here 6-0,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey after the game. “[I’m] just really proud of our team effort tonight.”

Krystal Luciano had the hot hand for Hofstra, scoring a game-high 20 points, while also rounding out her stat line with five assists, five steals, and four rebounds. Ashunae Durant posted her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 boards.

The Pride played its second straight game without the injured Anjie White, with Sydni Epps taking her spot in the starting lineup. Even without White, the Pride ran out to an 8-0 lead early, with Luciano scoring six of those points.

Offense was at a premium for much of the first half, with the Pride only shooting 27 percent from the field in the half, only slightly better than the Bulls’ 26.7 percent. The Pride went up 18-6 off of a Kelly Loftus three-pointer with five minutes to play in the first quarter, and both teams went scoreless for the next three minutes of play.

Joanna Smith was able to break the offensive slump with a three-pointer, the Bulls’ only three of the game. An Ashunae Durant free-throw would be the only other point scored in the quarter, as the Pride took a 19-9 lead to close out the quarter.

Luciano opened up the second quarter with a three to put the Pride up by 13. Buffalo managed to hang around for a bit, but were unable to score for the last seven minutes of the quarter, allowing the Pride to extend its lead to 15, heading into halftime up 32-17.

The second half was all Hofstra, as the team was finally able to score with consistency, while the Bulls kept struggling to score. The Pride hit four three-pointers in the half to stretch the lead all the way to 28, and took a massive 54-28 lead into the final quarter of play.

The Pride put the nail in Buffalo’s coffin in the fourth quarter, holding them scoreless for the final 8:16 of play, and going on a 23-0 run to end the game. Frustrations were evident from the Buffalo bench, resulting in a technical foul being called on Buffalo with just over four minutes left to play.

Olivia Askin came off the bench to knock down two three-pointers in the quarter for the Pride, who also used the charity stripe to great success in the final quarter, knocking down 10 free-throws to build the lead up to 43 points at the final buzzer. At game’s end, the Pride handed Buffalo its first loss in eye-popping fashion, trouncing the Bulls by a final score of 79-36.

“They [Buffalo] play with a lot of passion…it’s going to get a lot harder and harder. We just have to keep doing what we do,” said Kilburn-Steveskey.

For the Bulls, Joanna Smith led the team with 9 points.

The Pride, who improves to 6-1 with the victory, will return to action on Saturday afternoon against St. Joseph’s University, currently sitting at 2-3. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Mack Sports Complex.