The Hofstra University women’s basketball team will advance to the second round of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament after defeating the Hampton University Lady Pirates 71-55 on Wednesday, March 13, at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
Sophomore guard Alarice Gooden stepped up to the call for the Pride with a career-high 19 points off the bench. Brooke Anya aided in the effort with 14 points on 7-10 shooting and seven rebounds.
Zyheima Swint and Ally Knights were the glue that held Hofstra together, doing most of the dirty work for the Pride on both ends of the court. Knights caused havoc on defense, tying her career-high five steals. The senior guard matched the entire Hampton team with eight assists in the win. Swint recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds while adding a pair of blocks.
Emma Von Essen went cold in the first half, missing her first five attempts from behind the arc, but heated up after the break to make both of her 3-point attempts and to finish with 12 points.
Cheyenne Talbot led Hampton with 18 points, adding in six rebounds in 38 minutes of play time.
Camryn Hill, the Lady Pirates’ top scorer this season, was held to 10 points on 4-of-14 from the field in a great defensive effort from the Pride throughout.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm early on as Hofstra trailed 9-6 after the first quarter, committing seven turnovers in the opening frame.
The Pride looked to the bench for a spark in the second quarter. Gooden scored 5 points in the quarter, keeping pace with Hill and Talbot, who had 6 points each in the quarter, to take a 23-21 lead into halftime.
Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson gave her squad the halftime speech they needed, as the Pride came back blazing in the second half and scored 50 points with three different players scoring in double-digits.
The turning point for the Pride came in the third quarter when Gooden connected on Hofstra’s first 3-pointer to tie the game at 24-24. This trey ball was the start of a 18-3 run for the Pride.
A key factor for Hofstra was cutting down on the mental mistakes that cost them many opportunities early on. The Pride only turned over the ball five times in the second half, a big improvement from the 14 they committed in the first half.
Wednesday’s 71-point game was the third-most Hofstra has scored this season, as the Pride looks like they might be peaking at just the right time.
Hofstra will meet the College of William & Mary Tribe in the second round of the CAA tournament on Thursday, March 14, with tip off at 2:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes/CAA
