By Ryan McCord

Not a bad start at all for Hofstra women’s hoops. A split on the national stage in the preseason WNIT gives Pride fans reason for optimism and besides the one half that got away from them, the players and coaches are relatively pleased as well.

“When we want to press teams, we can play with anybody. We had a great time and gained a lot of confidence,” Lizanne Murphy said.

The early play of forward Lana Harshaw and point guard Jeanell Hughes was instrumental in producing a .500 opening weekend.

With Hughes distributing and playing a well-rounded game, Harshaw was able to take some pressure off of Vanessa Gidden, tallying 26 points and 18 rebounds, including a double-double in the win over Wichita State.

With a comfortable second half lead against Wichita State, Kilburn-Stevesky kept in mind that every team makes a run in the second half. Fortunately for Hofstra, the Shockers comeback bid was too little, too late.

“We had the kiss of death with a minute left, they just kept bombing three’s. My brain always busy thinking about the possibilities. I kept thinking about a game around ’79 when Dean Smith led North Carolina back from the improbable,” Kilburn-Stevesky said.

Hofstra is averaging 15 turnovers a game after the first two. That’s a number that Lizanne Murphy and company would like to keep consistently low.

“When you can get 15 or fewer turnovers in one game, that gives yourself a chance to win. With our new coaching staff, cutting down on turnovers is something we have concentrated on,” Murphy said.