WBB: Hofstra Starts Season On Friday Versus Navy

Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra will tip off the 2015-16 season with an Opening Day matchup against Navy on Friday at 5 p.m. at the Mack Sports Complex.

The Hofstra Women's Basketball program will have the first game of a basketball doubleheader as the Hofstra Men's team will then face Canisius to open its season with a tipoff of approximately 7 p.m. Both games will feature free live video and audio via Pride Productions as well as live statistics. Locally, the game can also be heard on WRHU (88.7 FM)

Fans can purchase tickets by visiting HofstraTickets.com, where it is now possible to print their tickets at home. In addition fans can also call (516) HOF-TIXX or visit the Hofstra Athletics Box Office in the Mack Sports Complex for more ticket information.

Hofstra returns 12 players from last season's squad that went 20-13 and qualified for the WNIT. Five of the six players who averaged at least six points are back, as are the five of the six players who notched at least three rebounds per game.

The Pride finished 11-7 in CAA play last year and advanced to the conference tournament championship game for the first time since joining the league before the 2001-02 season.
Senior guard Darius Faulk and junior Krystal Luciano are back to handle the bulk of the ball-handling responsibilities. Junior guard Kelly Loftus returns as Hofstra's leading scorer after averaging 12.5 points in starting all 32 games, resulting in her first career CAA award as a member of the league's all-third team. Five times Loftus posted 20-point games and her 79 three-pointers marked the third-highest single-season total in program history.

In the frontcourt, sophomore Ashunae Durant is coming off a CAA Rookie of the Year selection while also capturing All-Met Division I Rookie of the Year honors and an All-Second Team selection by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association. Durant shot a team-best 48.7 percent from the field to earn an All-CAA Second Team selection. Her rebounding total, which was the conference's sixth-highest, along with her 74.3 percent free-throw shooting average, helped her earn Full Court's National Mid-Major Freshman of the Year award. Red-shirt junior Anjie White made an immediate impact last season after transferring from George Washington, starting 12 of the 23 games in which she played and still averaging 9.5 points and 5.8 rebounds while recording four double-doubles.

Hofstra will open the 2015-16 season against a Navy squad that went 17-14 last year and won a Patriot League Tournament game. The squad was selected sixth in the Patriot League preseason poll.

Navy concluded the 2014-15 season in a tie for fourth place in the league with a record of 10-8. The Mids, who garnered the No. 5 seed in the league tournament, went on the road to defeat fourth-seeded Bucknell in the quarterfinal round of the event. That win made Navy the only team in the league to reached the semifinal round of the tournament in each of the last seven seasons.

Navy returns four starters and 10 letter-winners from last year's squad that attained a 17-14 record on the season. The Mids originally entered the fall of 2014 with just one returning starter and two returning letter-winners from their 2013-14 squad.

Hofstra is 1-0 in the all-time series, defeating Navy, 77-76, in the only matchup in the 1981-82 season. The Mids will be playing at Hofstra for the first time in program history.

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Players Mentioned

#2 Ashunae Durant: F; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#12 Darius Faulk: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#0 Kelly Loftus: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#11 Krystal Luciano: G; 5' 5"; Junior

#20 Anjie White: F; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

#2 Ashunae Durant
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#12 Darius Faulk
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#0 Kelly Loftus
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#11 Krystal Luciano
: 5' 5"; Junior
: G

#20 Anjie White
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: F

Hofstra University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned