By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR
UPPERMARLBORO, M.D. — Flashback to Superbowl XLVII, as the power went out for approximately 15 minutes at the Show Place Arena in the midst of the 2015 CAA women’s basketball championship match between the No.3 seed Hofstra Pride and the No.1 seed JMU Dukes.
Once the game resumed, Hofstra women’s basketball remarkable run in the CAA conference tournament finished with a bittersweet ending, losing 63-56 to James Madison University.
“I give a lot respect for JMU, they’ve been in this position a lot and I think it showed,” said head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. “But we weren’t just happy about being here. We have a lot to prove as we move forward.”
The game started out with such promise as the Pride matched the Dukes within the first six minutes with three lead changes. The Pride kept close, down by two points at most from the Dukes in the opening minutes.
After the 13:42 mark, JMU started to gain traction and outscored the Pride 7-2 to take a five-point lead in the middle of the first half.
Offensive struggles continued for the Pride but JMU hit a snag as well with 2:56 of scoreless ball from both sides in the midst of the half.
The Dukes broke the streak with a free throw by Ashley Perez and they continued to dig a hole for the Pride with a layup by Toia Giggets 16 seconds later.
James Madison took an eight-point lead with 7:54 left in the first half but the Pride refused to roll over.
Hofstra started to bounce back with a pair of free throws by sophomore Elo Edeferioka to end the Pride’s 4:52 scoreless streak. 53 seconds later, Edeferioka found the hoop to make the basket and cut JMU’s lead in half from eight points to four.
The Dukes fired back with their own basket but Elo Edeferioka slipped through the Duke defense and fired a jumper that brought James Madison’s lead back within four points. She set the foundation for the Pride comeback with all six points with 4:43 left in the first half.
Junior Jakelle King-Gilchrist followed up as the second act of the Pride comeback with back-to-back layups to tie the game with 3:24 until halftime.
Giggets put JMU back on top by two points but Edeferioka and King-Gilchrist teamed up, stringing together three consecutive points to put the Pride out in front for the first time since the very beginning.
Freshman Ashunae Durant tried to keep Hofstra out in front but JMU’s Da’Lishia Griffin scored the last four points that placed James Madison ahead, 24-23, by halftime.
Hofstra showed plenty of potential to take the lead into the second half but with six missed free throws and several offensive rebounds allowed for JMU were two key components keeping the Pride behind the Dukes at the break.
The second half mirrored the first except Hofstra’s comeback was too late.
The second half started out scoreless for the first 1:34 until the Dukes extended their lead to three points with the first basket of the half.
Hofstra started out strong again, matching every point the Dukes scored in the first 3:01 of the final half.
The Pride then started to slip, allowing a 9-2 run by the Dukes and boosted their lead by nine points – five points came from the hands of CAA player of the year Precious Hall.
Hofstra started a mini-comeback early with 13:44 left, scoring six unanswered points to slash JMU’s lead down to three.
James Madison set a couple of roadblocks, scoring four points over in a minute, but momentum favored the Pride as they outscored the Dukes 8-4 to get within one point of JMU.
Within a critical moment of the game, the lights flickered once and no one bothered to question it, then soon afterwards the power went out in one fell swoop and the stadium was covered in darkness.
Only lights from the scoreboard and certain lights from emergency generators worked until the power came back on 15 minutes later.
“I’m not one for excuses,” said Kilburn-Steveskey. “We teach our kids to deal with adversity so we had to deal with it.”
With 9:48 left in the game, the game resumed and Hofstra tried to recapture their previous momentum. In the flick of a switch, sophomore Anjie White knocked back-to-back free throws to grant the Pride a one-point lead with 8:59 to go.
During the remaining time, the bittersweet ending kicked in with JMU scoring to take the lead and the Dukes never looked back.
Hofstra failed to comeback from a 10-2 run to regain a critical seven-point lead in the final minutes with 5:21 left.
Sophomore Kelly Loftus tried to spark a rally for the Pride with the final minutes winding down and the CAA title on the line. She scored 10 of the last 12 points for Hofstra that cut JMU’s lead but it wasn’t enough and James Madison won their second consecutive CAA title.
Loftus’ 10-point rally pushed her as the scoring leader for Hofstra in the game with 16 points.
Elo Edeferioka was the only Pride player to post a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards – four offensive and seven defensive.
Anjie White was Hofstra best utility player with 11 points, one block and eight rebounds. Darius Faulk led the team with four assists on the day.
Hofstra’s record stands at 20-12, and their impressive record this year will give them a chance for an appearance in the 2015 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
