By Kevin Carroll — ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Asia Jackson exploded for a career-high 24 points off the bench, as the Pride women’s basketball team overcame a sluggish start to topple the College of Charleston, 62-58.
Jackson hit four three-pointers in the game, as well as a number of clutch free-throws down the stretch to hold off the Cougars. Jackson provided a huge spark for the Pride on a night in which the offense struggled throughout the game, shooting just 39 percent from the field, and only 18 percent from beyond the arc.
“She’s [Asia Jackson] been the moneymaker, if you go back…we made sure she was in the game, and we made sure we ran the plays toward her to catch the ball,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey after the game.
The Pride was looking for a win just two days after dropping a heartbreaker to Elon on Friday. Kelly Loftus scored the first four points for the Pride, but the team quickly fell into a slump on offense, as Charleston ran out to an early 12-4 lead.
Hofstra received a big shot in the arm when Jackson, a senior guard, connected on her first three-pointer of the game, ending the Cougars’ 10-0 run. However, Charleston was able to stretch its lead back to seven by the end of the first quarter, leading the Pride 16-9.
The two teams traded baskets early in the second quarter, with the Pride able to keep pace but not doing much to put a dent in Charleston’s lead. With just over five minutes to play before the half, Jackson connected on another three-pointer, closing the gap to just four points.
Using a couple of buckets from Sandra Dongmo and Anjie White, the Pride was able to tie the game, and then two free-throws from Jackson, who went 8-8 from the line, put the Pride ahead for the first time since early in the first quarter. A last-second jumper from the Cougars’ Breanna Bolden knotted the game at 26 headed into halftime.
Charleston gained the edge in the third quarter, capitalizing on the struggling Pride offense to build its lead back up to as much as eight points. The Pride only scored 13 points in the quarter, six from Asia Jackson, who hit two more three-pointers to keep the Pride afloat.
Jackson’s fourth triple came with just 19 seconds left in the quarter, and provided a much-needed momentum boost heading into the fourth quarter.
Hofstra took its first lead of the half with 6:32 left to play, off of a Jakelle King-Gilchrist layup. The Pride built the lead up to five, its largest lead of the game, but Charleston came roaring back to tie it up at 50.
Jackson, who was leading all scorers with 14 points at this point, took over for the Pride down the stretch. She hit two free-throws to put the Pride up 52-50, then came back with a layup to push it to 54-50 with just under three minutes left in the game.
Courtney Gardner answered with a basket of her own, but Jackson scored again to keep the Pride’s lead at four. She capped off her hot streak with four more free-throws to ice the game, giving the Pride a hard-fought 62-58 victory. In all, Jackson scored 10 of the Pride’s last 12 points.
“It was a tough one, we made it a lot harder then it needed to be, but that’s kudos to College of Charleston,” said Kilburn-Steveskey.
In addition to Jackson’s monster night, the Pride was buoyed by a strong performance from Darius Faulk, with nine points and eight assists. Ashunae Durant had eight points and eight boards.
For Charleston, Jackie Luna-Castro led the team with 22 points, and Breanna Bolden added a double-double, 13 points and 12 rebounds.
The Pride are back in action Friday morning, for a matinee showdown with UNC-Wilmington. The game will tip-off at 11:30 a.m. at Trask Coliseum.
