The Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team fell to the Iona University Gaels, 62-46, at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, New York, on Nov. 30, dropping their overall record to 2-4.
It was a slow start for Hofstra, as they were outscored 22-8 in the first quarter.
“One of our Achilles’ heels this year has been how we’ve been starting the game,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “We saw that tonight; we got off to a slow start. We’ve found ourselves there in other games where we’ve been able to battle back and get ourselves going, but tonight we didn’t do that.”
Iona outscored Hofstra in turnovers, tripled the Pride’s scoring on second chances, won the battle in the paint, outscored the Pride’s 34-20 from under the basket and shot 50% of their points from beyond the arc.
Most of those 3-pointers came from Kate Mager, who hit seven in the game, and combined with Juana Camilion for a total of 35 points for Iona.
“Something we’ve got to work on is our defensive intensity and relentlessness on the defensive side of the floor,” Santos Atkinson said. “We’ve got to be tougher, and we’ve got to make sure we’re not allowing such easy buckets.”
Brandy Thomas finished the game as the top-scorer for the Pride, as she was the only one to reach double-figures, scoring 16 points for the Pride. She also had the most rebounds with eight total, six of which were defensive. She was the only player for Hofstra who managed to make a shot outside the 3-point line, shooting 2-2 in the game. After her entrance in the second quarter, Thomas saw 30 minutes of playing time, the most of anyone on the team.
“Once [Thomas] got going, she was able to produce offensively,” Santos-Atkinson said. “There were some snapshots in there of some positives in things that we’ve seen and have been working on.”
While Iona led in nearly every other stat category, the Pride outscored the Gaels 16-12 in points scored off the bench.
“You’re looking for someone to be that spark,” Santos Atkinson said. “We found it from the bench; I thought some players tried to step up. But when you get yourself in that kind of hole, even with some sparks coming off the bench, it makes it tough.”
The final quarter was the only one where the Pride managed to outscore their opponents. Their best stretch of the game came in the last few minutes. They turned a 27-point deficit with six-and-a-half minutes to play into a 16-point game when the final whistle blew.
“We’ve got to get better, and it starts in practice,” Santos Atkinson said. “You have to compete to win. It’s hard, and you’ve got to be willing to give it everything you have. This team is going through that process, and we knew it was going to be that way. We’re continuing to build in this program, and we’ve got great players trying to do it with great support.”
Hofstra returns home to take on the Long Island University Sharks on Saturday, Dec. 3. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Neil Miller/Hofstra Athletics
