Senior center Vanessa Gidden (Stamford, CT) had 17 points and nine rebounds and senior forward Lizanne Murphy (Beaconsfield, Quebec, Canada) added nine points and 16 rebounds to lead the Hofstra Women's Basketball team to a 56-49 win over Towson, Thursday evening at the Towson Center.
Hofstra, which has now won three of its last four games, improves to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play with the victory. Towson, meanwhile, slips to 11-5 and 2-4 in conference action with its second straight defeat.
Senior forward Lana Harshaw (Wildwood, NJ) and Murphy combined for 15 of Hofstra's 22 first half points as the rest of the Pride combined to shoot just 2-17 from the field. Murphy added eight rebounds in the opening twenty minutes as Hofstra held a 21-15 rebounding lead in the half and scored 11 of their first 13 points in the game via second chance opportunities.
Murphy, who played all 20 minutes in the opening stanza, scored the Pride's first five points and helped Hofstra race out to an early 7-2 advantage. After a Shanae Baker-Brice jumper with 6:55 left in the half got Towson within one, 13-12, Hofstra went on a 7-2 run to take its largest lead of the half at 20-14 with just over two minutes left. The Tigers would rally to end the half as they scored five of the final seven points in the half to cut the deficit to three, 22-19, at the break.
Hofstra, which as a team shot just 27% (8-30) from the field in the opening half, held Towson without a field over the first 4:18 of the stanza.
With the Pride holding a 32-28 advantage following a Baker-Brice basket, Hofstra would gradually up its lead to double digits and took an 11-point lead, 39-28, with 11:11 left after senior guard Cigi McCollin (Long Island City, NY) tallied two of 12 second half points. Hofstra would continue to hold an 11-point lead, 41-30, after a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Harmonie Calinda (Huntington, NY) at the 10:29 mark before Towson began to make a run. A jumper from Kelly Robinson jump started an 8-2 Tiger run that culminated with a Baker-Brice three-pointer with 3:33 left. That would be as close as Towson would get, though, as Hofstra shot 13-16 from the charity stripe in the second half after a perfect 4-4 showing in the opening half.
Murphy tied her season-high in rebounds and fell one rebound shot of tying her career-high, while leading Hofstra with four assists. McCollin ended the game with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Harshaw finished with 10 points.
Baker-Brice led Towson with 19 points, while Robinson joined her in double figures with 10.
Hofstra returns to action on Sunday when they host Delaware at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised regionally by the Madison Square Garden Network.
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