The Hofstra University women’s basketball team dropped their fifth straight game on Friday, Jan. 26, as they fell to the College of William & Mary Tribe, 61-50. The Pride’s loss also marks their seventh consecutive loss against William & Mary, having not won a game against the Tribe since the 2020-2021 season.

The Pride drops to a 7-10 overall with a 1-5 record against Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) teams, while the Tribe improves to 8-9 overall and 5-2 against CAA opponents.

Emma Von Essen continued to be a dominant offensive player, leading Hofstra with 18 points and being the only member of the Pride to score in the double digits against the Tribe. Von Essen went 7-11 overall and 4-6 from the 3-point line, remaining on top of the Pride’s overall scoring and 3-point leaderboard. Tionna Baker made her second start of the season against William & Mary and followed behind Von Essen with nine points scored in the game.

Brooke Anya, playing from the bench, led the team defensively with eight rebounds. Zyheima Swint, leading the Pride with 8.7 rebounds per game, put up six points, seven rebounds and Hofstra’s only two blocks against the Tribe before fouling out with 3:03 left in the fourth quarter. Baker also got into foul trouble with four fouls, all of which were issued in the fourth quarter.

After tying the game 10-10 after the first quarter, leading 25-24 at halftime, and returning to a tied score of 36-36 after the third quarter, the Tribe eventually took advantage of the fourth quarter. William & Mary’s Anahi-Lee Cauley forced the final of seven ties 40-40 on a free throw with 7:27 left of the game. A layup by Baker put the Pride up 42-40 with 5:38, but a 3-pointer from the Tribe’s Cassidy Geddes 24 seconds later cost the Pride the lead for the rest of the game.

Since maintaining the lead with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter, 12 of the Tribe’s last 18 points came from foul shots. Geddes, who averages 8.7 points per game, made eight of the Tribe’s foul shots and led both teams in scoring with 22 points for the night. 

The Pride will stay in Virginia, visiting the Hampton University Pirates on Sunday, Jan. 28. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Hampton University Convocation Center.

Photo courtesy of Alexia Friedman/Hofstra Athletics