The Hofstra University women’s basketball team defeated Northeastern University 69-53 in a blowout victory to secure their fifth consecutive win on Senior Day. It’s the longest win streak for the Pride since the 2015-2016 season, and they end the regular season 14-15 overall and 9-9 in conference play. The Pride have moved up four spots in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) standings during the win streak, finishing in 8th place.
“All season we’ve been saying that we want to be able to finish the season playing our best basketball,” said Hofstra coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “I think the way these guys have fought, the way they’re playing together, the way they’re sharing the ball and how connected they [have] changed us and has made us so much more competitive.”
After losing to Northeastern on Feb. 16, the Pride were 9-15 in the regular season and 4-9 in conference play and were in an active seven game losing streak. Santos believed the Pride were not the same team that lost to the Huskies less than a month ago. Outscoring their last four opponents by a combined 32 points, Hofstra was banking on finishing this run.
Right out of the gate, Hofstra took an 8-1 lead, forcing Northeastern to take an early timeout. The Pride locked down the Huskies with back-to-back possessions ending in shot clock violations. The Huskies only attempted two field goals in the first six minutes. The Pride ended the quarter up 21-6, shooting 50% from the field and forcing 11 turnovers.
“When we’re able to defend, get stops and play it off the rim, we’re so much better,” Santos said. “When we’re playing it out of the net, having to take it out and play slower, that stalls us. We want to be able to go, run and play our game.”
This trend would continue until the final buzzer, with Hofstra winning by a commanding 16 points. Every member of the Pride did their part to pull out the win with 11 players seeing play time.
Ramatoulaye Keita, in her final game on Hofstra grounds, finished with 12 points, a career high five assists and 14 total rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Keita, along with fellow seniors Zyheima Swint and Janaia Fargo, were honored for their time with the Pride before tipoff.
Emma Von Essen connected on four 3-pointers on nine attempts. Her second 3-pointer put her over 200 for her career, making her the fourth Hofstra women’s basketball player to reach that mark. Von Essen finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals.
Sabrina Larsson came up big for the Pride, connecting on two 3-pointers and logging a career-high four steals. Now, with six straight games of 20 minutes or more, she has become an important rotation piece for the Pride going into the CAA tournament.
Hofstra finished this game with a season-high 19 assists, passing the previous mark of 15 against Stony Brook University last game. Averaging 10.5 assists per game on the season, getting everyone involved and staying connected is key for the upcoming tournament.
“That’s not normally a number for us,” Santos said. That’s really high. Even at times when we do share the ball, it’s not as high. I think when we’re doing that, we’re playing some of our best basketball and that’s just a tell that we’ve gotten closer.”
The Pride will open the CAA tournament against the College of William & Mary, a team which they defeated 54-34 on Sunday, March 2. Tipoff is set for noon on Thursday, March 13, at the CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C.
