EARLY RUN PROPELS TOWSON PAST HOFSTRA

1/8/2010 1:00:00 AM

Hempstead, NY - Shanae Baker-Brice scored 19 points and added six rebounds to lead the Towson Women's Basketball team to a 66-58 victory over Hofstra on Thursday evening at the Mack Sports Complex.

Freshman forward Shante Evans contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Pride, enabling her to notch her seventh double-double of the season.

Hofstra falls to 7-7 overall and 0-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play with the loss, while Towson improves to 8-5 and 2-0 in conference action.

The first 7:01 of the game would see Towson open up a 20-7 advantage as Simona Petronyte hit a pair of three-pointers to lead the Tiger charge. Trailing by 13, Hofstra gradually cut the deficit to eight as a three-pointer from freshman guard Candace Bond helped the Pride during a 6-1 run that saw Hofstra trail 21-13 with 9:13 left in the half.

A three-pointer from Dovile Miliauskaite with 1:24 left before intermission would give Towson its largest lead of the half at 39-19 before a layup from Evans closed the scoring in the opening stanza and saw the teams go into the locker room with the Tigers leading 39-21. Hofstra got a strong first half from Evans, who had six points and 11 rebounds in 15 minutes of action in the first stanza.

Towson pushed the lead to as many as 21 in the second half at 53-32 after a pair of free throws from Baker-Brice with 9:22 to play in regulation before Hofstra began to close the gap. With both teams struggling from the field in the second half, Hofstra used a 12-4 run to narrow the deficit to 57-44 with 5:15 to play on two free throws from sophomore guard Nicole Capurso. Neither team would hit a shot from the field from the 16:16 mark (Hofstra' Marie Malone) until a layup from Bond with 8:17 left ended the field goal drought for both teams. The Tigers would actually go without a field goal from the 17:52 mark until 4:47 remained, but managed to tally 14 points during that time from the charity stripe.

A late run by the Pride saw Hofstra close the gap to single digits with under a minute left, but Towson was able to hold on for the eight-point victory.

Sophomore forward Marie Malone added eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds in the contest for Hofstra.

Miliauskaite had a solid game for the Tigers as she had 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Petronyte chipped in with 12 points.

Hofstra is back in action at the Mack Sports Complex on Sunday when they host Georgia State at 2 p.m.

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