The Hofstra women’s basketball team finished its two-game road trip through the Carolinas on Sunday with a 55-47 loss to the College of Charleston in a CAA clash at the TD Arena. Hofstra falls to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in conference play with the loss.
“I think we came out way better after this weekend and more confident in handling pressure in the backcourt,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “I thought we did a good job. At times we got stops, and we held them for long stretches of time with very little points, but we didn’t capitalize.”
Charelston’s Jada Logan led all scorers with 25 points and six rebounds, while Brandy Thomas had a double-double, leading the Pride with 12 points and 12 rebounds to go along with Alarice Gooden added 11 points. Zyheima Swint had seven rebounds and three blocks, tying a career-high. Hofstra had the advantage in rebounds, 45-35, for the first time in their last five games.
The Cougars jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Gooden got the Pride on the board with a layup at the six-minute mark of the opening quarter. Charleston then went on a 6-2 run that gave them an eight-point cushion. The first quarter ended with Charleston leading 17-8 thanks to a jumper by Zaniyyah Ross-Barnes and five more points from Logan.
The second quarter began with a layup from Ross-Barnes’ that trimmed Hofstra’s deficit to seven before Charleston went on another 6-2 run that made the score 23-12. The Pride pulled back to within single digits after a Gooden three-pointer with 3:07 remaining and stayed on the Cougars’ tails for the remainder of the quarter by scoring five points in the final 1:30 on baskets by Thomas and Gooden, bringing the score to 31-25 at halftime.
After a Charleston three-pointer by Alexis Andrews to open the third quarter, Hofstra closed to within five points at 7:34 on layups by Swint and Rosi Nicholson. However, Charleston’s Anika McGarity scored the following eight Cougar points to extend Charleston’s lead over Hofstra to 12 remaining before a Sorelle Ineza three-pointer cut the margin back to within single digits. After Janai Fargo sank a pair of free throws for Hofstra, Logan scored the third quarter’s final three points to give the Cougars a 45-35 lead entering the game’s final stanza.
Charleston maintained a healthy lead for much of the fourth quarter before Hofstra went on a 7-2 run that brought the gap back to within single digits. However, the Pride’s final push was too little and too late as the final buzzer sounded.
“We’ve got to be able to step up and hit those shots with confidence,” said Atkinson. “Offensively, we’ve got to sharpen that up. We’ve got to get back to playing with some confidence on the offensive side of the floor.”
Hofstra will return home in their next matchup on Sunday, January 22, when they face Northeastern University with tip-off from the David S. Mack Sports & Exhibition Complex scheduled for 2 pm.
Photo Courtesy of Neil Miller/Hofstra Athletics
