The Hofstra University women’s basketball team earned a 58-49 win for their second-to-last game of 2023 over the Howard University Bison on Thursday, Dec. 21, after a demonstrative win over Farmingdale State College a couple of days before. The Pride brings their overall record to 6-4.
“We love a gutsy win,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “They were able to gut it out, and we’ve had two games without Zyheima [Swint], who is a double-double on our team, so we had to figure out how were going to make up those points. We had great contributions from people stepping up and get that done. We were able to finalize that W before we head home.”
Emma Von Essen led the team in scoring again with 18 points, but Brooke Anya shone with a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double, setting a career high.
“I thought she was great,” Santos said. “One thing [Anya’s] has been working on is staying consistent, composed and balanced throughout the game. She’s always going to be able to crash the boards, but I thought she did stepped up and did a great job.”
“[Von Essen] also did a great job,” Santos said. “She had a lot of wide-open shots last game, so she had to understand again and feel that she’s not always gonna be wide open. She’s a phenomenal shooter, and she found opportunities, and when she did, she was able to knock it down.”
The Pride struggled in the first quarter, falling behind 17-12 from two good free throws from Bison’s Iyanna Warren. However, the rest of the game, Hofstra took advantage of the Bison’s underperformance.
In the second, Hofstra shot 7-14 from the field and 2-5 from the 3-point line, compared to the home team connecting only on 30% from the floor with only one made shot from behind the line. The Bison’s shot-taking continued to go down in the third quarter, going 1-15 from mid-range and a combined 1-20 from the floor.
“Defense is an emphasis for us,” Santos said. “We talked about not allowing those open 3-point shots. That has been an emphasis for us and were looking to always clean that up.”
The third spread the score for the Pride by 10, 44-34, with Howard shooting continuing to be poor behind a Hofstra defense. The Pride’s offense soared from Anya sinking shots from inside the paint and the free throw line.
Hofstra’s shot opportunities decreased in the fourth, but the defense held their hands high and continued to play lockdown, as proven by Howard’s limited 3-11 shooting. The Pride solidified the win with two free throws from Micaela Carter, making the final score 58-49.
Now Hofstra heads back home for their last game of 2023 against the Manhattan College Jaspers.
“We’ve got to play with some consistency for 40 minutes and with a sense of urgency. There’s got to be a level and standard that we set for ourselves for 40 minutes,” Santos said. “Defensively, especially, we have to be playing as a team and communicate. We really have to improve in some areas that we’ve been working on. Offensively, we are getting quality shots, and we have to continue to stay aggressive.”
The last game of the year for the Pride will take place on Sunday, Dec. 31, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes
