Senior guard Niki Williams scored a season-high 15 points for Hofstra, but an early second half run by Virginia Commonwealth proved too much to overcome for Hofstra as the Pride fell to VCU, 83-58, on Thursday evening at the Alltel Pavilion.

Freshman guard Nicole Capurso was the only other player in double figures for the Pride as she chipped in with 13 points. 

The loss ends a short two-game win streak for the Pride, which falls to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contests.  Virginia Commonwealth won its fifth straight and improves to 15-3 and 5-1 in conference play.

An entertaining first half saw the two squads combine for 72 first half points with the Rams taking a 40-32 lead into the break.  Virginia Commonwealth held Hofstra to one field goal over the first five-plus minutes as the Rams jumped out to an early 12-3 lead, courtesy of a jumper from La'Tavia Rorie with 14:18 left in the opening half.  Back-to-back baskets from Capurso would kick-start a 7-0 Hofstra run to close the gap to 12-10 before VCU pushed its advantage back up to six (22-16) after a D'Andra Moss three-pointer.

Trailing 27-21 with 6:49 left on the first half clock, Hofstra would rally and a Williams three-pointer at the 4:33 mark would give the Pride its first lead of the game and end a 9-2 Hofstra run.  Virginia Commonwealth would hold Hofstra to one field over the final 4:30 of the half as they outscored the Pride 11-2 during that stretch to take the eight-point halftime lead.

The Rams would score the first nine points of the second stanza to open a commanding 49-32 lead as in total they scored 16 straight points spanning the two halves and went on a 20-2 run as well since Hofstra led 30-29 late in the first half.  A three-pointer from Williams with 15:59 remaining in regulation would end the extended run by VCU.

Hofstra would cut the second half deficit to as few as 11 in the second half, the last time at the 12:09 mark after a layup from junior guard Sam Brigham made the score 55-44 in favor of VCU.  The Rams would slowly pull away the remainder of the contest and eventually won the contest by the score 83-58.

Quanitra Hollingsworth posted a game-high 22 points in the contest, while Rorie added 21 for the victors.

Junior center Jess Fuller added eight points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Pride.

The Pride continues its short two-game road trip as they travel to Atlanta on Sunday to take on Georgia State at 2 p.m.

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