By Ryan McCord
Coming off a win on Friday that was hardly a “Shocker” despite playing in a hostile arena for their first game of the season against Wichita State in Kansas, the Pride women’s basketball team was feeling pretty good about themselves heading into Sunday’s match-up at Baylor University in the second round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The No. 18 Lady Bears, however, were able to use what Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Stevesky called “Baylor mystique” to take the wind out of her teams sails in the first half, making the rest of the contest an uphill climb that any program would have a difficult time overcoming.
By shooting a dismal 23.5% to start the contest, the Pride fell behind too early and too far against a Baylor team loaded with talent in what turned to out to be a respectable 81-71 final score down in Waco, Texas on Sunday.
“It wasn’t necessarily that we looked like a deer in the headlights, it’s just when the shots don’t fall, it adds up,” said Kilburn-Stevesky, commenting her teams struggles in the early going. “It’s about the gut check, having ability to make adjustments. They were longer, quicker and more athletic than we have seen.”
After narrowing the lead to six with 13 minutes left in the first half, the Bears decided it was time to dust off their sleeves and kick their game into another gear, jolting to a 24-7 run to polish off the first half and send the Pride reeling into the locker room.
“They are really athletic. They push the ball. Run, run, run,” senior guard/forward Lizanne Murphy said. “They are similar to Old Dominion, looking to spend the game running, not having a lot of shooters for set offenses.”
Murphy followed up her impressive performance versus Wichita State (19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals) to make just one field goal on eight shots combining with fellow seniors Vanessa Gidden and Cigi McCollin to shoot just 17-49 for the game.
McCollin finished with a respectable 33% from three-point range, but failed to make any in the first half and combined with Gidden for 10 of Hofstra’s 17 turnovers.
Not only were the Bears able to keep Hofstra’s three star seniors at bay, Baylor’s notable incumbent forward Bernice Mosby proved to be too hot to handle down low, punching in 20 points and snaring a game-high 17 rebounds to lead the Lady Bears.
“She’s a great player, but we could have contained her better,” said Gidden, sharing her thoughts on the play of Mosby. “Our shots just weren’t falling. It was like we were playing against ourselves. We came out relaxed, ready to play basketball in the second half.”
Jeanell Hughes continued to fill the stat sheets in helping direct the Pride offense and keeping the deficit somewhat manageable, finishing with 12 points, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Pride freshman guard Samantha Brigham pitched in off the bench with five points and four rebounds in 18 minutes, but it was Baylor’s freshman, and local talent who proved a difference maker in the final score.
Big 12 Rookie of the Week award winner Danielle Wilson, a 6-3 forward from Bay Shore, lead the Baylor second unit with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
The Pride showed flashes in the second half, of just how accurately they are capable of shooting when they play relaxed, knocking down better than 50% of their field goals, including 5-10 from three point range.
“Coach just told us to go in and set a goal for ourselves in every minute of the second half. Knock the deficit down minute by minute,” Gidden said. “We learned a lot as a team, how to play with each other. We can play with anyone.”
The road tested Pride will head to Brooklyn for a date with Long Island University on Friday looking to get back above the .500 mark for the season.
Jeanell Hughes and the Pride could not keep up with the running Bears.