Hempstead, NY - Sophomore forward Candace Bond hit two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to cap a stunning rally for the Hofstra Women's Basketball team as the Pride rallied from 23 down early in the second half to defeat league-leading James Madison, 75-73, on Sunday afternoon at the Mack Sports Complex.
James Madison came into the contest winners of 13 straight contests dating back to a 71-55 loss at Old Dominion on January 9.
Bond finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals in 39 minutes for Hofstra, while sophomore forward Shante Evans posted a game-high 19 points to lead the Pride in scoring.
Hofstra has now won two straight and three of its last four games to improve to 17-11 overall and 9-8 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. James Madison falls to 22-7 and 15-2 in league action with the defeat.
James Madison looked to be poised to put the finishing touches on a dominating victory, but Hofstra had another idea. After Dawn Evans, the nation's leading scorer, tallied her first three points of the game to open the second half and give the Dukes what appeared to be an insurmountable 46-23 advantage with 19:12 left, Hofstra began what would end up being a stunning comeback.
A D. Evans three-pointer with 13:21 left in regulation would still allow the Dukes to lead 56-38, but Hofstra immediately answered with a 9-0 scoring run that culminated with a pair of free throws from senior guard Aamira Terry with 11:42 to play.
Another D. Evans shot from beyond the arc gave James Madison back a 13-point advantage with 10:41 remaining before Hofstra added its second huge scoring run of the half, this one a 14-0 spurt, that would put the Pride back in front 63-62 with 7:18 on the clock after a jumper from junior guard Candice Bellocchio.
Hofstra looked to be in trouble a few minutes later after the visiting Dukes regained a four-point lead with 5:47 to play, but as they had done numerous times throughout the remarkable second half, Hofstra had another answer for the conference's top squad.
A three-pointer from freshman guard Kate Loper knotted the game at 69 with just over five minutes left and the two teams would go back and forth until D. Evans nailed a three-pointer with 2:02 left to give the Dukes a 73-71 advantage.
Hofstra would have multiple chances to even the score on its next possession, but despite five shots at the basket Hofstra looked to be out of luck as James Madison regained the ball with 30 seconds left in the contest and a two-point lead.
Following a timeout, the Pride's aggressive defense forced a JMU turnover with 22 seconds left and S. Evans would even the score at 73 for Hofstra with only 14 ticks remaining.
JMU then proceeded to miss two shots on its next possession, with Bond taking control after the second shot. The Fort Washington, MD native blocked a shot by Lauren Jimenez, corralled the rebound and raced down court with seconds remaining. She was finally chased down by Tarik Hislop, who fouled Bond and sent her to the free throw line with the outcome of the game in the balance.
Bond calmly nailed both shots from the charity stripe with less than two seconds remaining and S. Evans intercepted the desperation inbounds pass to put the finishing touches on a stunning rally for the Hofstra Women's Basketball team.
Despite holding the nation's leading scorer to 0-10 shooting and zero points in the opening twenty minutes, the conference-leading Dukes led 43-23 at the break as Jimenez had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead the JMU attack. D. Evans came into the contest averaging 24 points per contest, was also 0-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, but added three assists and two steals. It marked the first time that Evans had been held scoreless in a half since March 12, 2010 when she played just four minutes in the quarterfinals of the CAA Championship against UNC Wilmington. She played 11 minutes in the opening half of today's contest.
The two squads were battling back and forth over the first nearly nine minutes of the contest as a layup from Jalissa Taylor knotted the game at 15 with 11:26 left.
James Madison would then take control of the half as the Dukes held Hofstra without a field goal over a 9:12 span, turning a 15-12 deficit into a 33-16 advantage after layup from Lauren Whitehurst. Junior guard Nicole Capurso finally ended the run at the 3:08 mark with one of her two first half field goals, but JMU was able to push the lead to 20 points, 43-23, with a late three-pointer.
Capurso led Hofstra with six points in the first half, while Bond added four points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the opening stanza.
Capurso was clutch through the game for Hofstra as she finished with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Terry, playing in her final home regular season game, had 10 points, six rebounds and four steals off the bench for the Pride.
Hofstra forced 27 James Madison turnovers in the game, leading to 29 Pride points.
Jimenez ended up with a double-double for the Dukes with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while D. Evans scored all 17 of her points in the second stanza.
Hofstra honored its two seniors (Terry and Isoken Uzamere) in a pregame ceremony as the duo appeared in a regular season game at the Mack Sports Complex for the final time.
Hofstra will close out the regular season on Wednesday when it travels to William & Mary for a 7 p.m. contest.
