FAIRFIELD, CT — The Hofstra women’s basketball team fought hard but fell to the Sacred Heart University Pioneers 71-44 on Sunday, Nov. 10, at the William H. Pitt Health and Recreation Center.
Ana Hernandez Gil led the Pride with 11 points and Sacred Heart redshirt junior Nikki Johnson led all scorers with 19 points.
Hofstra struggled early, allowing the Pioneers to jump out to an 8-2 lead. On their first five shots, the Pride only made one, eventually shooting 23.1% from the field in the quarter. They also struggled to handle the ball early, committing a turnover on each of their first three possessions.
Fortunately for the Pride, Sacred Heart struggled from the field early in the first quarter as well, allowing the Pride to hang close, only trailing 12-7 with 46 seconds remaining in the quarter. However, a three-pointer from sophomore Adrianne Hagood and a last-second layup from freshman Sonia Smith stretched Hofstra’s deficit from five points to 10 within a minute.
The second quarter was a different story for the Pride, as Sorelle Ineza scored seven of her nine points in a 15-3 run that tied the game at 22. She also had two assists in the run, contributing on 11 of the teams 17 points in the second quarter.
“We’ve asked her to step up and play some big minutes for us, and she’s done that and is doing really well,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos-Atkinson. “She came out, played hard and tried to put the team in the best position to win.”
Despite Hofstra’s efforts to tie the game, Johnson took back control for the Pioneers, going on a personal 7-2 run to give Sacred Heart a 29-24 lead headed into the half.
The Pride and Sacred Heart went back and forth to start the third quarter, with a Hernandez Gil three-pointer and Ineza layup keeping the game within six points. However, the Pioneers ended up taking complete control of the quarter and the game, going on a 15-0 run to take a 50-39 lead.
The Pioneers carried this momentum into the fourth quarter, only allowing the Pride to score eight points en route to the final score of 71-44.
Hofstra starters Marianne Kalin and Jaylen Hines ran into foul trouble in the second half. Both fouled out and combined for 10 minutes played in the final two quarters of play.
“We knew that fouls were going to be an issue. We knew that they were a driving team that likes to attack the basket.” Santos-Atkinson said. “We got set back a little bit with all of the fouls and getting in foul trouble.”
The disparity made itself evident on the free-throw line, as the Pioneers attempted 23 free throws as opposed to the Pride’s 10. They also made 17 of those free throws, ten more than the Pride.
Another issue that came from Kalin and Hines’ foul trouble is that the Pride struggled with rebounding in the second half without two of their bigger players. Sacred Heart outrebounded the Pride 18-15 in the second half.
This helped the Pioneers outscore the Pride in second-chance points 13-8. The ability to rebound their own misses and turn it into points helped the Pioneers keep their momentum and led to Hofstra changing their defensive arrangements.
“In the zone defense, we were getting some stops, but not rebounding out of it,” Santos-Atkinson said. “They had scored more points in the zone than they had in our [straight up defense].”
Despite the Pride’s struggle to score in the second half, Hernandez Gil excelled, scoring nine of her 11 points in the half on three three-pointers.
“[Hernandez Gil]’s not a secret, every opponent that we play is going to know that she’s a shooter,” Santos-Atkinson said. “Late in the game, she was able to get freed up and get more open looks. I think the more open she was, the more confident she was in hitting the shot.”
The Pride will look to bounce back in their home opener against in-state rival Stony Brook University on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
