Kevin Carroll — STAFF WRITER
Upper Marlboro, Md. – The Pride simply would not be denied on Saturday, withstanding an attempted Delaware rally to outlast the Blue Hens 45-42 in the CAA semifinals on Saturday at the Show Place Arena.
The win punches the Pride’s ticket to a CAA finals showdown versus James Madison tomorrow afternoon, with a coveted spot in the NCAA Tournament on the line.
“I can’t [stop] talking about how proud I am of this team and doing something that we’ve never done in my tenure at Hofstra and for Hofstra University,” said head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey.
Having been swept by the Blue Hens in the regular season, Hofstra needed someone to step up and lead the team to victory, and Elo Edeferioka stepped up in a big way, scoring 12 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, both team-highs.
Edeferioka also had four blocks and three steals, as her presence was felt on both ends of the court.
“She just played with so much passion and so much heart today,” said coach Kilburn-Steveskey said after the game.
Krystal Luciano added eight points, and Ashunae Durant pulled down five rebounds, four on the offensive glass, to lead the Pride to victory.
The Pride took the court Saturday after watching James Madison beat Elon 63-60, to clinch their spot in tomorrow’s CAA title game. Hofstra wasted no time in their quest to join the Dukes in the championship, jumping all over the Blue Hens early.
The Pride dominated the glass from the very beginning, pulling down 30 boards in the first half, compared to just 12 rebounds for Delaware. Even more impressively, 13 of those rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Edeferioka dominated the first half, scoring eight points and grabbing 11 rebounds, scoring at will, with little resistance from the Blue Hens interior defense. Despite of all this, Hofstra shot just 36.4 percent from the field in the half, only taking a 27-16 lead into the half as Delaware did just enough to keep it close.
Coming out of the break, the game seemed to completely switch directions, as Hofstra came out looking flat and sloppy, while the Blue Hens started to find the rhythm from the field, and figured out how to keep Edeferioka off the glass. With just under twelve minutes to play, Delaware had closed the gap to just three, and the Delaware crowd started to get hot.
A brief spurt of life put Hofstra back up by seven, but the Blue Hens refused to go quietly, and kept it incredibly close as the final minutes ticked away.
Courtni Green hit a big three-pointer to make it a 45-42 ballgame, and the Blue Hens had a few chances down the stretch to tie it up, but a huge charge drawn by Durant was the highlight of some superb Pride defense on the final possessions, not allowing Delaware any open looks.
A desperation three-pointer from Green clanged off the backboard, and the Pride players rejoiced at center court, holding on for a thrilling 45-42 victory, and a date with JMU in the CAA championship game.
Courtni Green led the Blue Hens with a game-high 14 points, and Erika Brown, who exploded for thirty points last time these two teams squared off, added ten points today for Delaware.
Only one more game separates the Hofstra women’s team from a trip to the Big Dance, as the Pride will return to the Show Place Arena one final time tomorrow, for a championship showdown with the top-seeded James Madison Dukes.
“Every game in this type of tournament is always a different type of game. It’ll be a fun day tomorrow with some good basketball and it’s going to be a fun show,” said Kilburn-Steveskey.
The two teams split the regular season series, with Hofstra handing JMU its first and only conference loss back in February.
The nationally televised CAA championship game will tip-off at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, and the winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA women’s basketball Tournament.
