Atlanta, GA - Junior guard Candice Bellocchio had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but Georgia State used an 18-2 game-closing run to defeat Hofstra, 84-70, on Sunday afternoon at the Georgia State Sports Arena.
Hofstra falls to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play with the loss, while Georgia State improves to 6-8 and 1-2 in conference action.
Angelique Burtts led the victorious Panthers with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Chan Harris added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Hofstra had several opportunities to pull away from Georgia State in a first half that saw the two teams combine for 87 points, with the Pride holding a narrow 44-43 lead at the break. After the Panthers got a three-pointer from Kendra Long to open the contest, Hofstra responded with a 13-2 run that culminated with a layup from junior guard Nicole Capurso with 15:29 left in the opening stanza.
Freshman forward Anma Onyeuku would extend the lead to 10 points, 20-10, almost two minutes later with two of her team-high 12 points in the half.
Georgia State gradually chipped away at the lead and the Panthers used a 7-0 run later in the half to retake the lead in the contest at 38-37 following a old-fashioned three-point play from Tiffany Anderson with 3:11 left. Hofstra pushed its advantage back to six points before the Panthers scored the final five points of the stanza to trail by just one at the break.
It would be a tight second stanza with neither team able to pull away through most of the 20 minutes. Hofstra trailed the majority of the half until a clutch three-pointer from junior guard Jael Pena from right in front of the Hofstra bench with 8:52 left in regulation put the Pride ahead, 63-62.
The contest would continue to go back and forth as each squad traded buckets as the clock counted down. Capurso would hit a three-pointer from the wing to put Hofstra up 68-66 with 6:17 left in the second stanza, but that proved to be Hofstra's final highlight of the contest.
A 5-0 scoring run would ensue for the Panthers, including a three-pointer from Lanajia Ernest with 4:35 remaining, to allow the home squad to take a 71-68 advantage.
Georgia State would clamp down on defense at that point and the Panthers would hold Hofstra to just two points over the final six-plus minutes of the game as they would hang on for the 84-70 victory.
Sophomore forward Shante Evans had 12 points and eight rebounds in the game for Hofstra, while Onyeuku led the Pride with 14 points and added seven rebounds.
Long added 17 points and nine rebounds for Georgia State.
Hofstra is next in action on Thursday when they host Northeastern in a special 12 p.m. tip-off as part of "What I Want To Be Day".
