Jaylen Hines tied her career high with 17 points and added 13 rebounds on the night, but the Pride fell to the Howard University Bison 73-64 Sunday, Nov. 24 at the David S. Mack Arena.
Hofstra was down by as much as 16 points in the second quarter and looked lackadaisical on both sides of the floor. That changed in the second half.
“One of our goals was to have that same intensity and that same energy coming out of the second half,” said head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson.
The Pride pieced together small runs throughout the entirety of the third quarter, which allowed them to pull as close to a 54-51 deficit to head into the final quarter of play.
“Personally, I think I need to start off better [and] be more aggressive out of the jump, because I was more aggressive in the second half,” said freshman point guard Sorelle Ineza, who had a career high of nine assists on the night. “I direct the tempo so if I am more aggressive people will follow me.”
In the fourth quarter, both teams traded buckets until Ana Hernandez Gil made a costly turnover when the Pride were down 61-60 to stymie their momentum which they never fully regained. The Bison then went on a 10-3 run to close out the game.
Guard Sarah Edmond lead the way for the Bison, pouring in 18 points and collecting 10 boards for the double-. Guards Jayla Thornton and Ayonna William also added 16 and 15 points, respectively, to secure the victory and move to 4-2 on the season.
Four members of the Pride (Ineza, Hines, Hernandez Gil and JaKayla Brown) ended the game in double-.
“That’s a win. That’s an emphasis that have the confidence to shoot the ball when you are open,” Santos Atkinson said. “This is the type of team that we have, where we should have four to five people in double figures every game.”
With this loss, the Pride fall to 1-4 on the year and have suffered four consecutive defeats, three of which have come on their home court.
“I think we just need to continue to keep our energy level up,” Hines said. “We need to continue to be positive and see the end.”
“We need to keep believing in each other,” Ineza added. “Once you believe it you can achieve it, we are almost there we just got to keep working hard.”
The Pride will be back in action Saturday Nov. 30 when they travel on the road to play LIU.
“We are right there.” Santos Atkinson said. “We knew this was going to be a process. It is not January. That’s where we want to start to become our best team.”
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
