The Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team lost to the University of Delaware Blue Hens 65-54 on Friday, Feb. 17, dropping to second to last place in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings.
The Blue Hens established an aggressive press defense that used blitzes and traps from the start of the game that continued throughout the game, forcing the Pride to shoot just 28% from the field. Despite winning the turnover battle 14-25, the Pride couldn’t make enough shots to stay in the game.
“In that half-court trap, they forced us a bit out of rhythm,”said Hofstra head women’s basketball coach Danielle Santos-Atkinson. “They half-court trap and continued to trap so it doesn’t give you the opportunity to get set up in a true offense.”
Hofstra senior Sorelle Ineza recorded her sixth consecutive game scoring in double digits with 17 points on 19 shots, but it was an inefficient night for all Hofstra scorers.
“[Ineza has] been playing really well, she’s been playing very steady, she’s been playing within herself and she’s been playing with a lot of confidence,” Santos said. “She’s a great player, she’s really heady, she makes great decisions out there on the floor and she’s been a leader for us in that way, consistent and reliable.”
The first quarter featured lots of turnovers for both teams. The teams played great team defense that forced bad shots and sloppy passes. The first basket came two minutes into the game when Ineza had to throw up a last-second heave to beat the shot clock due to the swarming Delaware defense. At the 4:45 mark in the game, the teams had as many turnovers as they had points with the Pride leading 5-4. The scoring stopped for two minutes until Rebecca Demeke and Rosi Nicholson hit back-to-back threes. A pair of Ineza free throws tied the game 10-10 to end the first.
In the second quarter, the Pride found ways to break down the aggressive defense with a couple of threes from Janaia Fargo and Jada Peacock. Makayla Pippin scored nine of her 12 points in the first half and hurt the Pride inside the paint. Nakiyah Mays-Prince also scored nine of her 13 points in the first half. Typical high scorer Brandy Thomas landed her only basket at the end of the second to give the Pride a 29-28 going into the half. The Blue Hens out-rebounded the Pride 21 to 15 but the Pride took care of the ball better with five fewer turnovers than the Blue Hens.
“14 turnovers to a team that wants to press a majority of the game, I felt as though we took care of the ball,” Santos said. “We were able to trap them some, able to get them on their heels, force them into some decision-making. Our rotations, I thought were a bit better for a majority of the game off of some of their drives.”
Emma Von Essen appeared on the scoresheet at the start of the third quarter with a three off great ball movement from Hofstra on some swing passes to find the open shooter. The Pride utilized quicker passes out of halftime to get past the trapping defense.
In this quarter, Tara Cousins scored all 10 of her points in a five-minute span. Klarke Sconiers helped the Blue Hens reach a 48-40 lead with multiple baskets of her own. However, the Pride closed out the third with a fastbreak that led to Von Essen finding Ineza who converted an and-one to cut the lead to 48-45 going into the last quarter of play.
“They were pressuring us but we had open people, we needed to be tougher in that trap and not get swallowed and get the ball out of there,” Santos-Atkinson said. “We moved some people around on the floor and we were able to do a better job of attacking it with confidence.”
Hofstra’s Zyhemia Swint fouled out at the beginning of the final quarter putting the Pride at a disadvantage defensively and on the glass. The Blue Hens outscored the Pride 17 to nine in the fourth quarter, making it that much easier to put them away.
“There was a point in the game the momentum swung, and when that momentum swung we just stayed back and didn’t go with it,” Santos-Atkinson said. “We didn’t pick up our intensity, we didn’t pick up our play and really dig in and make it tough for them and oppose our will on both sides of the floor.”
In sum, all of the Pride struggled to find good shots throughout the game.
“We got two scorers there that we rely on often that weren’t able to find the basket tonight but I thought that the shots that they took were great shots,” Atkinson said. “Would we have loved to see some of those shots go in for both of them, yes, but when they don’t then we got to have other people step up and we got to have other people fill that void.”
Hofstra’s next appearance will be against Northeastern University on Sunday, Feb 19 at 3 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein
