The Hofstra University women’s basketball team won a 45-44 nailbiter against Monmouth University on Sunday, March 1. Having won four of their last six games, the Pride is now 7-20 and 5-11 in conference play. They currently sit 10th in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) standings.
“Just really proud of this team and their fight,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “We’ve talked about their resiliency that they’ve had to continue to show up and show up and show up. Felt like in January we were a November team.”
Hofstra’s first-half struggles returned against the Hawks. After starting the game with two makes on three attempts, the Pride went 2-9 for the rest of the quarter and 6-22 for the rest of the half.
Hofstra took charge in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, going on a 13-4 run in this span and leading 21-12. This cold streak didn’t discourage the Hawks, though. They finished the half holding the Pride to 0 points within the last four minutes, cutting the score to 21-19 at the end of the half.
The third quarter was back and forth, with Monmouth coming out with a one-point lead. It was the highest scoring quarter of the game with 31 total points scored and a combined 46.2% shooting between both teams. The fourth quarter was the polar opposite, with both offenses grinding to a halt.
With just three minutes remaining and Hofstra down 42-39, the Pride missed five straight shots. Senior guard Emma Von Essen stepped up in the clutch, sinking back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Pride the three-point lead that they never lost.
“I tell Emma that every shot that she shoots – I don’t care if she makes her first 10 or misses her first 10 – every shot she shoots, I think is going in,” Santos said. “You can see down the stretch of the game there, it didn’t matter. She was letting it go, letting it fly, and we all had the confidence in her to be able to do that.”
With transfers Sana’a Garrett and Deivejon Harris not stepping on the floor, the Pride shortened their rotation to eight players with 10 or more minutes, with freshman Kiyanna Blacks-Stewart logging just two minutes.
Santos has stressed time and time again that being able to win Sunday games despite the results from earlier in the week is crucial. Every win in this stretch has been on a Sunday.
“We had multiple [Sunday games] to start the season where we had battled on a Friday, come up short and then came into Sunday and laid an egg,” Santos said. “It’s a huge emphasis for us on those Friday games, regardless of if it’s a win or loss; we’ve got to change our mindset, pick ourselves up or keep our momentum going into the Sunday.”
This is now the second season in a row with these end-of-the-season runs. Hofstra won six of their last seven games going into the tournament last year. This season, the Pride has just two games left and could potentially reach as high as eighth in conference standings.
In their final home game of the season, the Pride will face Drexel University on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. Drexel defeated Hofstra earlier this season in dominating fashion, winning 67-38 in Pennsylvania.
