Hempstead, NY - For the second time in as many home games, the Hofstra Women's Basketball team erased a double-digit deficit in the second half and posted an 85-81 win over Charleston Friday night at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Ashunae Durant and Krystal Luciano each had double-doubles to pace the Pride, which outscored the Cougars 53-37 in the second half.

Hofstra, which trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter and eight four minutes into the fourth quarter, improved to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the Colonial Athletic Association with the win. Hofstra erased a 13-point deficit in a win over William & Mary on February 5. Charleston, which saw a modest two-game win streak halted, fell to 8-15 overall and 5-7 in league play.

Durant scored 25 points and added 13 rebounds, while Luciano had 20 points and 10 assists. Aleana Leon was also in double-figures with 17 points and missed out on a double-double by one rebound.

Charleston shot 47 percent in the first quarter to take a 17-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes. The Cougars led by as many as five on two occasions, 9-4 and 15-10, before the Pride closed the quarter on a 5-2 run. Luciano scored five points in the quarter to lead the Pride, while Dajah Logan paced the Cougars with nine points.

The Cougars started the second quarter on fire, connecting on five of their first seven shots (3-4 from three) over the first 3:27 to take a 30-20 lead and force the Pride to call a timeout. Shiclasia Brown had eight quick points for Charleston in the opening 13-5 run. Hofstra would eventually trail by as many as 16, 41-25, with 3:26 to go in the half. Hofstra closed the quarter on a 7-3 run to go into the break trailing by 12, 44-32. Leon led the Pride in scoring at the half with eight points. Shiclasia Brown had 18 points for the Cougars, including 16 in the second quarter.

Charleston maintained a double-digit lead for nearly all of the third quarter, building back up to 16 at one point,  57-41, on a three-pointer from Darien Huff. The Pride had cut their deficit to 10 to start the quarter and then got within nine on a Durant elbow jumper with 43 second left that made the score 59-50. The Cougars held a 62-51 advantage at the end of the quarter. Durant scored eight points for the Pride in the quarter.

Hofstra scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to four, but Shiclasia Brown stopped the spurt with a three-pointer to push the Charleston lead back up to seven. Olivia Askin brought the Pride back to within five, 69-64, with 6:10 to go following a three-pointer. That started a 9-0 run that gave Hofstra its first lead since 2-0 at 70-69. With 3:53 to play. The game was tied at 72 with 3:01 to go when Sydni Epps hit a pair of free throws to put the Pride up by two.

After Charleston tied it, Askin answered with another three to make it 77-74 in favor of the Pride with 2:37 to play. A pair of Luciano free throws with 1:35 to play gave Hofstra a 79-74 edge; it's largest of the game at the time. The Cougars got within three, 79-76, with 1:15 to go but Durant hit two free throws to make it a two possession game with 16 seconds remaining. Huff gave the Cougars hope with three free throws with 13.7 seconds left that made it 81-79. The Pride would hit four of six free throws in the final 12 seconds to secure the win.

Shiclasia Brown tied Durant for game-high honors in scoring with a career-best 25 points. She was joined in double-figures by Tanisha Brown (13), Bolden (12) and Huff (10). Bolden also added a team-high 12 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.

The Pride is back in action Sunday night at 5 p.m. when they take on Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware. The game will be televised by the American Sports Network and can be seen in the New York area on SportsNet New York (SNY). Check your local listings for channel information.

Notes:
-Askin scored a career-high nine points.
-The double-double was Durant's 14th of the season and the 30th of her career.
-Luciano recorded her second double-double of the season and third of her career.
-Hofstra's 85 points matched their season high set at Sacramento State.