A well-played first half didn’t translate into late-game success for the Hofstra women’s basketball team, as the Pride was outscored by 21 points in the second half en route to a 73-56 loss at the hands of the University of Delaware on Sunday afternoon.
“Obviously, I’m completely disappointed with our performance tonight,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey after the loss. “You could say that we’re better, but we certainly didn’t play as well.”
The bulk of the damage done by the Fightin’ Blue Hens was inflicted by sophomore forward Nicole Enabosi. An All-CAA rookie teamer last year, Enabosi imposed her will on the Pride’s interior all afternoon, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
A huge chunk of Enabosi’s points came at the free-throw line, where she was 10-18. In all, the Blue Hens used the charity stripe to lethal effectiveness, shooting 21-31 as a team, while the Pride only got to the line 12 times, shooting 50 percent.
Enabosi’s partner in the frontcourt, Makeda Nicholas, was equally as effective, scoring 19 points on 8-12 shooting. The Hofstra bigs were powerless to stop this offensive onslaught, and it showed on the statsheet.
The Blue Hens outrebounded Hofstra 45-29, and scored 18 second-chance points, compared to just one second-chance point from the Pride.
“Delaware just took it to us on the boards,” Kilburn-Steveskey said.
The Blue Hens wasted no time imposing their will right from the opening whistle, racing out to an 8-0 lead early. With the Pride unable to get good looks on offense, and looking a little lost on the defensive end, Krista Kilburn-Steveskey called a timeout to give her team a chance to reset.
“I just told them to calm down, that we’re going to make some shots and it’s not the end of the world,” Kilburn-Steveskey said.
The head coach’s words were definitely heard by her team, as the Pride came out of the timeout looking like a different team.
A 17-6 Hofstra run put the Pride as the first quarter drew to a close. The charge was led primarily by Krystal Luciano and Ashunae Durant, two of Hofstra’s most potent offensive weapons. Luciano, in particular, was hot for the Pride, knocking down a pair of three-pointers as well as dishing out four assists.
“I’ve been getting a lot more shots from the perimeter, and I’ve just been taking advantage of that,” Luciano said.
The two teams battled hard throughout the second quarter, with Delaware scratching and clawing its way back into a 29-29 tie late in the quarter before a jumper from Durant put the Pride back ahead.
Durant, a preseason All-CAA first teamer, would hit another tough fadeaway as the closing seconds of the first half dwindled, putting the Pride ahead 33-29 heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, it seemed as if the power went out for the Hofstra offense, only scoring 23 total second-half points, while the Blue Hens exploded into the lead with two minutes left in the third quarter and never looked back.
Multiple scoring droughts would ensue for the Pride over the final quarter as Delaware slowly built its lead, thanks to multiple trips to the charity stripe for Enabosi, who was giving the Hofstra frontcourt fits with her athleticism and power under the hoop.
Luciano, who had come out of halftime with 11 points and seven assists, was held to just a single three-pointer in the second half, finishing with 14. Durant, while padding her rebounding totals, was also held to just three points by a stout Blue Hens defense in the second half. Durant would finish with 15 points and 12 rebounds, her fourth double-double in a row and eleventh total on the season.
Hofstra falls to 8-7 on the season, with a 1-3 mark in CAA play. The Blue Hens improve to 8-8, 2-3 CAA with the win, which was head coach Tina Martin’s 400th win as the head coach at the University of Delaware.
The Pride was without freshman Ana Hernandez Gil for Sunday’s game, as the Spanish sharpshooter sat out nursing a leg injury. Hernandez Gil is fourth on the team in scoring with 7.7 points per game despite playing just under 11 minutes a game. She has also been the team’s top scorer from three-point land this year, shooting at a 42.5 percent clip from downtown.
Next up for the Pride is a home showdown with the University of North Carolina Wilmington, another team that has struggled so far in conference action. The Seahawks are 5-11 on the season, and are still searching for that first CAA victory, sitting at 0-5 thus far in the conference.
Tip-off is set for Thursday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Mack Sports Complex.
