Senior forward Lizanne Murphy scored a game-high 18 points and senior center Vanessa Gidden added 17 points as the Hofstra Women's Basketball team moved on to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) with a 64-59 victory over South Carolina at The Colonial Center on Wednesday evening.
The win improves Hofstra's record to 26-7 this season, while the Gamecocks end their season with an 18-15 mark. The win was Hofstra's first-ever over a Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponent, after falling to Kentucky at the Pepperdine Tournament last season.
In arguably the greatest season in school history, Hofstra has now picked up wins over the Big 10 Conference (Michigan State), Big East Conference (Seton Hall) and SEC (South Carolina).
Hofstra has now won 11 straight games when holding its opponent under 60 points and improved to 57-5 in its last 62 games when holding its opponent under than total. The Pride's four seniors combined for 53 of the Pride's 64 points on the day.
Hofstra opened up a 27-23 lead at halftime after holding the Gamecocks scoreless for a 5:34 stretch in the latter portion of the first half turning a two-point deficit into a five-point advantage after a pair of free throws from Gidden with 1:54 left before the break. Sophomore guard Natty Fripp nailed one of Hofstra's four first half three-pointers during the 7-0 run, which was ended by a jumper in the lane from USC's Lauren Simms.
Hofstra faced its largest deficit of the first half at 14:46 after Simms drained a three-pointer, but the Pride scored five of the next seven points to knot the score at 11 and the first half would tight from that point forward. Murphy led a balanced first half attack for Hofstra with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
After South Carolina closed within 29-27 just 1:57 into the second half, Hofstra scored six of the next nine points to take a five-point advantage, 35-30, following a jumper from Murphy with 16:39 left.
A three-pointer from senior guard Cigi McCollin with 11:03 left in the half would give Hofstra a six-point lead (44-38), its largest of the contest to that point before the Gamecocks eventually knotted the score at 48 after a basket from Lakesha Tolliver, which culminated a 10-4 run for South Carolina.
Melanie Johnson would even the score at 50 at the 5:50 mark before Hofstra came right down the court and retook the lead with a jumper from senior forward Lana Harshaw at the 5:26 mark. McCollin would put the lead back up to five with a shot from beyond the arc at the 3:15 mark before Stacy Booker got the Gamecocks back within three.
Hofstra, which took a 25-0 record into the game when leading with two minutes to play, was ahead 57-52 at the two-minute mark and extended it to six points after a technical foul and a personal foul on the Gamecocks with 35 seconds remaining.
Brionna Dickerson quickly closed the gap to four with 27 seconds left before Murphy made one out of two with just 15 ticks left. A bucket in the paint from Demetress Adams made it a three-point game before sophomore guard Niki Williams ended the scoring in the contest with two free throws.
Hofstra, which improved to 19-0 when winning the tip and won on the road for the 13th time this season, also got 11 points from McCollin and nine assists, eight rebounds, four points and three steals from Williams.
Simms led South Carolina with 12 points, while Tolliver added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Hofstra advances to face the winner of tomorrow's third round contest between Western Kentucky and Mississippi State. Date, time and location of the quarterfinal match-up will be announced following the conclusion of tomorrow's game.
-30-
