The Hofstra women’s basketball team snapped a five-game losing streak with a 72-59 win over UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Jan. 30. JaKayla Brown and Jaylen Hines led the way with 20 points apiece and Jahsyni Knight added 13 points and a game-high seven assists.
“We had great energy and intensity throughout the game on both ends of the floor,” said head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson.
The Pride (5-10, 3-6 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)) pulled away between the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, holding the Seahawks (3-8, 0-5 CAA) to two points in an over seven-minute stretch. The Hofstra defense came up with two blocks and four steals during that time. Knight picked up two steals and two buckets in a 20-second span, picking off two passes and dropping in the breakaway layups. Those plays contributed four of the Pride’s 19 fast break points and 25 points off of turnovers.
“I thought we did a great job of pushing the ball in transition,” Santos Atkinson said. “We want to create opportunities offensively from our defense and they did a great job of that.”
Hofstra came up with a season-high 15 steals plus seven blocks, three of which belonged to Zyheima Swint off the bench. Vanerlie Valcourt nabbed four steals in her fourth straight start.
Hines and Brown became the first Hofstra teammates to score 20+ points in the same game since Hines combined with Ana Hernandez-Gil a little over a year ago on Jan. 26, 2020.
“Being aggressive, getting to the paint, making free throws, scoring, defending, it all carries over,” Hines said. “Starting with defense, leading to your offense, that kept us going.”
The Pride faced a 14-9 deficit after the first quarter but a 25-point second quarter gave them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The lead grew to as much as 20 in the fourth quarter and the Pride cruised to victory. They never took their foot off the gas, though, and it was the hustle plays that got them the lead and the win.
“When we’re talking about hustle, we want all five people on the floor running in transition,” Santos Atkinson said. “You may not touch the ball but the fact that you run the floor. Our post players running the floor, rim-to-rim, some of the wide-open layups they were able to get but even if they don’t get the layup, they’re attracting defense, they’re attracting attention and creating opportunities for other people and I was really proud of the way they did that.”
Hofstra won the rebounding battle 41-31 and four members of the Pride had at least five rebounds.
“We had some possessions where they almost came up with the offensive rebound and there was a tip and a second tip and the extra effort to dive after the ball, to save it from going out of bounds, under control and keep it alive for us to run and go,” Santos Atkinson said. “There were some opportunities that could have turned into turnovers and we had the extra effort to be able to hustle after that ball and still make a play with it.”
Jaala Henry led the Pride with eight boards to go along with six points.
UNCW was led by Za’Nautica Downs’ game-high 23 points off the bench and Carol-Anne Obusek’s 18. No other Seahawk scored in double figures. Obusek added a game-high 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double.
The Pride and Seahawks square off again at the Mack on Jan. 31 at 2 p.m. to complete the back-to-back weekend series.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
