By Kyle Kandetzki – MANAGING EDITOR
What was billed as a defensive showdown beforehand, turned to a shootout at times as Drexel fended off Hofstra late, handing them their second conference loss of the season.
The Drexel Dragons (10-9, 6-2) topped the Pride (15-4, 6-2) in Philadelphia Friday night by a score of 67-64. Hofstra shot 48% from the field, but Drexel hung close all game long, and took advantage of some second half fouls and turnovers to take the victory. Anjie White led the way for Hofstra, tying her season high with 16 points, along with nine boards.
“With Drexel here, it’s always like this,” said head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. “We got beat on the boards by a team we shouldn’t get beat by, and we turned the ball over too much. Those two pieces were our Achilles’ Heel in a tight match like today.”
Hofstra pulled into the fourth quarter trailing by three, but in what was already a very back-and-forth affair, Asia Jackson nailed a three-pointer to tie things at 52-52 right off the bat.
After Drexel’s Carrie Alexander and Sara Woods hit back-to-back shots, Hofstra continued to use anything they could to stay right on their heels. First, it was Kelly Loftus driving inside for a layup that turned into a three-point play. Then, it was White chucking up a shot as the shot clock expired from beyond the arc, drawing a foul, and hitting all three free throws to put Hofstra within one, 60-59 with 4:27 left.
Drexel and Hofstra then traded jumpers and free throws until Darius Faulk hit a key jumper to put Hofstra ahead 64-63 with under two to go.
For the next minute, the Pride defense held tough, denying the next two Dragon tries, but their own offense couldn’t capitalize. Eventually, the frontcourt defense gave way to the go-ahead jumper by Sarah Curran with 38 seconds remaining.
Hofstra called a timeout to draw up a play, but they wouldn’t even get to see it come to fruition as a backwards pass on that possession by Ashunae Durant was intercepted by Drexel, forcing Hofstra to foul.
Drexel would go to the line twice in the final 17 seconds, only making one of two each time, keeping Hofstra in a one possession game, but neither of two three-point attempts, including Krystal Luciano’s as time expired, would go, and the Pride fell 67-64.
“They do a great job, we do a great job,” said Kilburn-Steveskey. “We were playing some good defense, it comes down to some isolations and slips on possessions.”
Beyond White’s big day, the scoring was spread out between most of the players that saw the floor. Loftus scored 12 points, but shot 3-for-12, Durant had ten points and seven rebounds, and Asia Jackson had ten.
Hofstra shot 58% from three in the first half, but they couldn’t carry that momentum into the second, making just one on ten attempts.
For Drexel, Meghan Creighton led the way with 16, while her high school teammate Curran had 13. The Dragons grabbed 13 offensive rebounds.
The first quarter of play was offense heavy, as both teams combined for 45 points and eight three-pointers. The Pride also grabbed an early eight-point advantage after hitting nine consecutive shots between the first and second quarters.
Hofstra came into the day as the best defense in the CAA, while Drexel was close behind in third. The Dragons had just allowed only 31 points over an entire game to Elon over a week ago, but it took just over 13 minutes for the Pride to match that amount.
Drexel then utilized a 7-0 run, while holding Hofstra to just ten points in the second to come into halftime trailing at just 35-33.
In the third, Hofstra regained a seven-point lead by scoring seven of the half’s first nine points, but it would be short lived advantage as the Dragons found success from any section of the floor. Drexel then scored six consecutive points off of free throws, many of which came on fouls that the Pride bench did not agree with, putting them in good position in the fourth.
Hofstra is now tied for second place in the CAA with Drexel, just half-game behind 6-1 James Madison.
Hofstra faces a quick turnaround as they will meet Elon at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. Coach Kilburn-Steveskey called the game a “grudge match” after the Phoenix handed Hofstra their only other conference loss three weeks ago.
