By Felipe Fontes — STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra women’s basketball team fell 22 points short when it crossed the bridge to take on the Columbia Lions on Monday night, falling 75-53.
Although the final score indicates a lowly competitive game, it was anything but that going into the mid-third quarter, when Hofstra trailed by a mere three points with six minutes to go.
Unfortunately, a thin active roster for the game hurt the Pride, especially when senior guard Aleana Leon got into early foul trouble, forcing her to miss the third quarter by coach’s decision.
“It was tough enough that we had to play the whole first half without Aleana. Now you don’t have Ashunae and you don’t have Aleana because she gets two quick fouls. So that happens, and you’re already barely playing 7 right now,” head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey said.
The decision not to play Leon in the third ended up hurting the Pride when the stretching lead eventually became too great to overcome.
Columbia took advantage of the Pride’s lack of depth with three players in double figures and two scoring more than 15.
Senior forward Camille Zimmerman led the way, knocking down eight shots from the field and the free-throw line to finish with 24 points. Zimmerman was also extremely active on the glass, pulling in 13 rebounds to solidify her double-double.
This offensive production from the Lions largely came off of Hofstra mistakes as they turned 21 Pride turnovers into 29 points.
For Hofstra, Marianne Kalin nearly notched a double-double for herself, grabbing nine rebounds to go along with her 15 points.
Also for the Pride, Olivia Askin put up 13 points and dished out a career-high five assists, while E’Lexus Davis scored 11 points.
Overall, the Durant-less Pride was overwhelmed, playing a deeper Lions squad that was able to be more physical, as displayed with their 17 offensive rebounds.
“Unfortunately, when you’re thin on the bench, it’s a little more noticeable and there’s not a lot of people that can help because you don’t have the numbers game,” Kilburn-Steveskey said.
Fortunately for Hofstra, with key players looking to return to action for the next game, it should be better equipped to take on opposing teams than they were on this night.
The loss now puts the Pride at 5-5 on the year with just one game left to play before conference competition begins.
Up next, Hofstra will look to finish non-conference play on a strong note when they welcome St. Bonaventure University at home Dec. 21 at 7 p.m.
