The Hofstra women’s basketball team suffered a 73-64 overtime loss to the Fairfield University Stags on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Alumni Hall. The Pride fought back from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to force overtime, but could not finish the job and fell to 2-6 on the season, while Fairfield improved to 3-4.
“I think the girls played really well and I’m really proud of their fight,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “I think we had a really good start with our intensity and out energy. It wasn’t necessarily the start we had last game, but we came out firing and played with confidence, which is what I wanted to see.”
The Pride jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter after Sorelle Ineza’s jumper put them ahead 6-3, but Fairfield responded with a three pointer from Sam Kramer the next possession to even up the score.
From there it was back and forth between the Pride and the Stags, but Fairfield started to pull away at the 3:26 mark. The Stags used a 7-2 run to go in front 17-12, followed by a 6-2 tear in the final minute of play to finish the first quarter with a 23-16 advantage.
Fairfield kicked off the second quarter with two consecutive layups from Katie Armstrong to build an 11-point cushion. The Pride and Stags traded baskets once again but Hofstra could not cut their deficit to fewer than seven points.
Armstrong continued her hot shooting and scored eight of the Stags’ 13 second quarter points to give them a 12-point lead with 3:09 remaining in the first half. She led both teams with 14 points at halftime as the Stags went into the break leading 36-26.
After Kramer started the second half with a three to extend the Stags lead to 13, the Pride responded with a 9-0 scoring run to come back within four points. Despite the slow start, Fairfield fought off the Pride attack and brought their lead back to seven with 3:29 minutes remaining in the quarter.
Hofstra showed their resiliency once again as Marianne Kalin and Ana Hernandez Gil led the Pride on a 7-3 run and cut Fairfield’s lead to 44-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
“Coming into the second half, we came out and gave up a shot right away but we went on to get five stops after that so I think that really set the tone for us,” Santos Atkinson said. “Our defense is continuing to grow and continuing to pick up, which is what we need.”
Hofstra continued to fight in the fourth quarter and came within one point of Fairfield at the 9:50 mark. The Stags caught fire and used a 7-2 run to bring their lead back to seven, but it did not last long. Hofstra responded with a 10-4 tear and tied the score at 55 thanks to seven points from Jaylen Hines. Shortly after, the Pride and the Stags went into overtime tied at 57 a piece.
Despite multiple comeback attempts, Hofstra could not finish it off and were outscored by Fairfield 16-7 in overtime. Armstrong fueled the way for the Stags and scored eight points in overtime, followed by five from Kramer. Fairfield closed it out by going 7-10 from the free throw line in the final minute of play, winning 73-64.
“I’m really proud of their fight because we’ve been down in some games and we’ve run out of time in our fight to come back and in this one we did as well,” Santos Atkinson said. “We came back and went into overtime but that is a space we haven’t been in yet so we learn from that, grow from that and when we’re in this position again, it will be a different result.”
Despite the loss, Hines and Kalin both recorded double-doubles for the Pride, with Hines scoring 15 points along with 15 rebounds and Kalin reaching 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think they’re playing with confidence and they’re understanding that they are double-double players,” said Santos Atkinson. “It’s not just, ‘Let’s see if they can get a double-double,’ because it’s what they can do and have the potential to do every single day.”
Following a two-week break, the Pride will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 21 when they host Campbell University at 1 p.m.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
