In Boston, the Hofstra women’s basketball team suffered another close loss in the season finale to the Northeastern Huskies 52-46.
Senior Krystal Luciano etched her mark in Pride history as the first Hofstra player ever to finish her career with 1,000 career points, 500 career assists and 400 career rebounds.

“That was obviously well deserved, too bad we didn’t get the win so she could be coming out on a high…but kudos to her very well deserved,” Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey said.

Hofstra was up 11-7 in the first quarter when Olivia Askin hit her second three-pointer of the game to extend Hofstra’s lead to seven. The Huskies got it right back down to three with a pair of layups. However, Aleana Leon hit two buckets and at the end of the first quarter, the Pride was up 18-13.

Huskies’ Claudia Ortiz, who led them with fifteen points on the day, catapulted an 11-1 run in the second quarter. Northeastern held on to a five-point lead going into the halfway mark. Ashunae Durant had the only point for Hofstra in the quarter with a made free throw.

Early in the third, Luciano brought Hofstra back to within three, hitting a mid-range jumper. After Olivia Askin’s layup and free throws by Sydni Epps, the Pride was back up 25-24.

However, later on in the third quarter, Claudia Ortiz hit another big shot to extend the Huskies’ lead to 32-28.
A free throw from Ashunae Durant and a three-pointer from Luciano knotted the game even, but Northeastern took a two-point edge into the final quarter. In the middle of the frame, Huskies’ Jess Genco, who finished with 12 points and four assists on the day, hit a bucket to give them a 40-38 lead.

Northeastern had then taken a 44-40 lead when Hofstra’s Olivia Askin hit a three to bring the deficit back to a single point. With a minute and a half to go, the Huskies hit four clutch free throws that extended the lead back to five. Luciano hit another three-pointer to bring it back to two. However, Northeastern hit another four free throws to seal the win.

Both teams shot poorly, as Hofstra finished at 31 percent, while Northeastern finished at 32 percent.
The key to the game was free throws, as Hofstra shot 4-10 from the charity stripe. The Huskies shot 71.4 percent (15-21) and hit all of their free throws down the stretch.

Ashunae Durant has been the best shooter for the Pride this season, hitting 44 percent of her shots and is averaging over 16.4 points per game. She also averaged a double-double on the year, grabbing ten boards per contest. Although, in this game, she struggled just hitting four of 17 shots with 12 points, but grabbed 15 rebounds.

Luciano finished with fifteen points and dished out three assists. She has also been the best distributor for the Pride, averaging over six assists per game.

Hofstra heads into the CAA tournament as the ninth seed, having lost four of its last six contests, taking on Towson in an opening round matchup at noon on Wednesday in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The Pride finished the season at 12-17 overall, and 5-13 in conference play. With the win, Northeastern improved to 12-18, and 8-10 in the Colonial.