The Hofstra University women’s basketball team bounced back after a tough loss on the road, with a 66-46 blowout victory over the Northeastern University Huskies at home. The Pride improved to 9-14 on the season with a record of 3-9 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play and Northeastern sits at 8-15 overall and 4-9 in the conference.
Hofstra’s defense has been an issue as of late; in Friday’s game against the Stony Brook University Seawolves, the Pride gave up a staggering 81 points off an efficient 49.2% from the field. That was not an issue in Sunday’s game, as Hofstra played suffocating defense in the first half.
At the end of the first quarter, the Huskies only managed to put up five points on a woeful 2-11 shooting. Hofstra was able to maintain their defensive prowess throughout the entire game, keeping Northeastern’s senior guard Derin Erdogan to 0-8 from behind the arc. The defense also excelled at capitalizing on turnovers, scoring 20 points from 15 giveaways.
“We have been there before the past two games right,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “We’ve had great first quarters; we’ve allowed our intensity to take a dip and sense of urgency to take a dip. In the next quarters, we just talked about how we keep up our defensive intensity and how we maintain our offensive execution – just being able to continue to play with a sense of urgency and not get bored, not get tired and not giving into fatigue.”
Their defense wasn’t the only thing the Pride were able to execute, as their offense clicked all night. Hofstra opened the game scorching hot with sophomore guard Emma Von Essen opening the game by knocking down her first five shots, going without a miss until just under 4 minutes into the second quarter. Von Essen would finish the game with 22 points on a highly efficient clip, shooting 9-13. Senior forward Brooke Anya was also able to notch 13 points on an impressive 71.4% field goal shooting. The Pride also recorded its fourth-highest assist game all year led by senior guard Ally Knights who distributed four dimes with only one turnover.
Sunday’s matchup was one of Hofstra’s cleanest and most dominant games they’ve played all year. The Pride tied their lowest turnover mark of the season at 11, as the Huskies only managed to score four points off these turnovers. Along with keeping the ball under control, Hofstra only fouled 11 times which was the lowest all season.
From the jump, the Pride led the entire game, their lead extending as far as 28 in the third quarter. Easily the most dominant quarter was the first, as Hofstra went on a 20-0 run.
The energy after the big win was extremely positive, as Hofstra honored the Kay Yow Cancer Fund by wearing their pink jerseys. Both Von Essen and Anya reflected upon the recent buzz surrounding women’s basketball encouraged by Caitlin Clark breaking the women’s NCAA scoring record, and the Steph Curry vs. Sabrina Ionescu NBA All-Star 3-point competition.
“I think with women’s basketball being on a platform that it is, is just pride… just being out there enjoying the moment, like you’re playing for your teammates,” Anya said.
“There’s a lot more talk around women’s basketball… we’re kinda in the mix. There were 800 people here tonight, and that’s really cool,” Von Essen said.
Hofstra will look to build off this win against the College of Charleston Cougars. Tip-off for this CAA matchup is set for Friday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. in the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Evan Bernstein
