The Hofstra women’s basketball team lost to the College of William & Mary 61-48 at the Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Sunday, Feb. 20. The loss drops the Pride to a conference record of 2-11 and an overall record of 5-16.
“Not our best basketball,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “The focus to be able to play for forty minutes was something that we talked about and wanted to get done, and it didn’t happen today.”
Hofstra took a five-point lead in the first quarter, their largest of the game, and held a 29-28 lead going into halftime. However, W&M responded with a 13-point third quarter and took a seven-point lead before dropping 16 more points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Hofstra was held to 19 points in the second half.
“We’ve got to continue to work,” Santos Atkinson said. “We’ve got players that are stepping up and are looking to do good things for us. We’ve been aggressive on both ends of the court, and we’ve got to convert on both ends of the floor while getting stops defensively and finishing offensively.”
Senior Jahsyni Knight was the top scorer for the Pride, finishing with 17 points while averaging 50% outside the three-point line. The Pride’s second highest-scorer, senior Jaylen Hines, hit a historic milestone as she reached 1,000 total points in her Hofstra career with a layup with 7:21 remaining in the third quarter.
“[Hines] has had a great career here at Hofstra in terms of what she’s been able to do on and off the floor,” Santos Atkinson said. “You just love to see good things happen for good people, and for her to be able to reach that milestone before she graduates is something we are very proud of and something we will make sure we celebrate.”
The Pride lost steam in the second half as they gave up 15 turnovers for a total of 22 throughout the game.
“The turnovers are a huge issue for us,” Santos Atkinson said. “We’re giving up a lot of points through those turnovers which limited our shot opportunities. We’ve got to limit those turnovers because we need those possessions. We need those opportunities at the basket and at the rim. Live turnovers are especially resulting in transitioning easy baskets.”
The Pride performed well in the paint as they outscored W&M 28-16 down low.
“That’s an emphasis for us,” Santos Atkinson said. “We’re looking to get the ball in the paint and create opportunities for ourselves. We want to play an inside-out game. So we want to be looking to get there off a pass, cut or drive. We’ve done a good job these past few games, even better than today. Having some production in the paint is something we have to continue to do.”
Hofstra will return home to play the College of Charleston on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein/The Hofstra Chronicle