Hempstead, NY – Hofstra junior Aleana Leon tallied a career-high 19 points and classmate Ashunae Durant added 17 points including the 1,000th-point of her career but Elon jumped out to an early lead and never looked back for a 64-53 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Pride at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex Sunday afternoon.

The Phoenix of Elon was led by junior Malaya Johnson with 13 points while senior Jennifer Rhodes added 11 in the victory. Junior Shay Burnett added nine points and nine rebounds while Lauren Brown also contributed nine points. The Phoenix hit on 26 of 58 field goals for a 44.8 percentage.

Leon, who tallied 16 of her 19 points in the second half, was 6-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line. In addition to her 17 points in the contest, Durant grabbed 11 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season and the 28th of her career. Senior Sandra Dongmo grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her five points in the contest. The Pride hit on 16 of 60 field goals in the contest.

The Pride opened the scoring with a layup by Durant just 26 seconds into the contest. But the Phoenix went on a 17-0 run behind four points each from Rhodes and Johnson. The Pride, who went ice cold from the field hitting just one of 16 shots in the quarter, added a free throw from E'Lexus Davis with 54 seconds to play in the period to end their scoring drought. But Johnson hit a layup 26 seconds later to close out the scoring in the period with Elon ahead, 19-3.

The second quarter was a little better for the Pride but the seal remained on the basket for much of the period. Elon outscored the Pride, 9-3 over the first 6:37 of the period, with five Phoenix players recording points, to boost the lead to 28-6. Hofstra's points came from the charity stripe with Durant hitting two free throws and Sandra Karsten adding another. The Pride's field goal drought ended at the 3:10 mark as Krystal Luciano hit a jumper for only their second field goal in 28 attempts. Leon followed with a layup and a free throw for Hofstra before Essence Baucom closed out the half with a free throw for Elon for a 29-11 lead at halftime.

The Phoenix opened the third quarter with an 8-4 spurt behind four points from Rhodes to equal their biggest lead of the game at 37-15 at the 7:03 mark following a Rhodes jumper. But Hofstra, behind eight points from Leon, went on a 12-5 spurt to close to 42-27 following consecutive baskets by Leon at the 1:08 mark. But Meme Garner hit a lay-up and Burnett converted three free throws in the final 48 seconds to boost the lead back to 20 at 47-27 after three quarters.

Hofstra had a strong fourth quarter, outscoring Elon, 26-17 in the period. One of the highlights for the Pride came at the 4:43 mark when Durant sank a free throw for her 1000th career point at Hofstra that cut the deficit to 56-40. But the Phoenix boosted the lead back to 19 at 60-41 following a Johnson lay-up with 3:39 to play.

Hofstra had one last spurt in them, going on a 10-2 run over the next 2:14 to cut the deficit to 62-51 with 1:12 to play after an Olivia Askin three-pointer. But that and the final 11-point deficit would be as close as the Pride would get as Hofstra would drop its fifth consecutive game.

Hofstra returns to action Feb. 3 when the Pride host the Dukes of James Madison University at the Mack Sports Complex. Game time is 7 p.m.