Harrisonburg, Va. – Hofstra Women's Basketball opened the Colonial Athletic Association Championship with a 77-66 win over No. 8 seed Towson in the Opening Round at the JMU Convocation Center. The win earned the Pride a berth in the CAA Quarterfinals to take on top-seeded Elon.

Four players finished in double figures for Hofstra, led by senior Krystal Luciano, who nearly recorded a triple-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Junior Ashunae Durant chipped in 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while classmate Aleana Leon added 14 and freshman Marianne Kalin contributed 12.

Raven Bankston led the Tigers with a game-high 30 points, while Raine Bankston chipped in 17 and Nukiya Mayo had 10.

Luciano got the Pride on the board after coming up with a steal and making an easy layup on a fast break the other way. It was Luciano again on the next possession, driving to the basket to give Hofstra a 4-0 lead. Leon picked up an offensive rebound and put it away to put the Pride up 6-1. Three-pointers from Luciano and Leon pushed the lead to 12-3 at the first media timeout. Askin drained a right-wing trey of her own, but Raven Bankston answered with one on the other end to make it a 15-6 game. Three free throws from Towson cut the deficit to six. A jumper from Raven Bankston made it a four-point game, but Durant halted a scoreless drought for the Pride to give Hofstra a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Leon opened the second frame with a left-wing trey, but a foul on a three-pointer on the other end allowed Towson to respond with three free throws. Senior Sydni Epps drained a pair of fouls shots and Durant knocked down a mid-range jumper after faking the shot for a 24-14 Hofstra lead. After the Pride had pushed its advantage to 28-15, Raven Bankston hit a three, but freshman Ana Hernandez Gil was quick to respond  for a 31-18 Hofstra lead. The Pride then went a 6-0 run, before Sianni Martin snapped the streak with a mid-range jumper with 2:19 left in the half. Durant's free throw was Hofstra's last point of the half as Towson hit two more shots to bring it to 38-27 at the half.

A pair of Raven Bankston free throws to open the second half cut Hofstra's lead to single digits, but Durant was then sent to the stripe for the Pride and made both of her shots. Martin then hit a three, but it was Durant who responded once again with a long-range jumper to push the lead back to 10. Towson racked up five team fouls in less than three minutes, putting Hofstra quickly in the bonus. In the midst of a 17-3 Hofstra run for the remainder of the quarter, Durant and Hernandez Gil combined to go 4-for-4 from the line midway through the frame for a 48-34 Hofstra lead. Epps drained a long two-pointer only to be countered by a three from Nukiya Mayo. Kalin and Luciano picked up a pair of layups before Kalin came up with a steal on defense to get the ball back and get Luciano another layup for a 56-37 advantage for the Pride. Hernandez Gil then drained a three to give Hofstra its largest lead of the day.

Durant made two more free throws to open the final stanza. Towson then used a 10-0 run to shave the deficit back to 14. Luciano snapped the streak with a pair of foul shots, with the Tigers once again sending the Pride into the bonus early in the quarter. Askin knocked down a right-wing three with 5:15 to go to give Hofstra a 68-51 advantage. Kalin moved into double figures with a layup in transition on a no-look pass from Luciano.  Leon made a pair of shots from the charity stripe to put the lead back at 22 with about three minutes to go.

Hofstra will take on top-seeded Elon at noon on Thursday in the quarterfinals at JMU Convocation Center.

Notes:
-The win was Hofstra's first CAA Championship win over Towson.
-Hofstra is 10-5 when Aleana Leon scores in double figures.
-Durant has scored in double figures for a career-high 13 straight games, while Luciano's six consecutive games in double digits is also a career best.