Elon, NC - Junior JaKayla Brown tied her career-high with 26 points and the Hofstra women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship with a 77-67 win over Towson on Thursday afternoon at the Schar Center on the campus of Elon University. 

Hofstra has now earned a spot in the semifinals of the CAA Championship in two of their last three appearances after reaching that round in 2019 as well. 

Redshirt junior Jaylen Hines added 16 points and 14 rebounds for Hofstra, while junior Jahsyni Knight tallied 13 points, nine assists, and six steals. Both her assists and steals totals were career-highs. 

With the win, fifth-seeded Hofstra improves to 8-11 on the year. Fourth-seeded Towson falls to 13-9. The win avenged a pair of regular season losses to the Tigers. 

Hofstra jumped out early, scoring the game's first five points as freshman Zyheima Swint scored three points during the game-opening run. The early advantage for Hofstra would grow to nine as Hines scored five points during a 7-0 Pride run that made it 12-3 with 5:56 left in the first quarter. A pair of free throws from junior Caria Reynolds would give Hofstra its first double-digit lead of the game with under five minutes left in the opening period as the Pride led 16-5 with 4:30 showing on the clock. The lead would grow to 13 in the second period as Reynolds hit a layup to make it 27-14 in favor of Hofstra with 6:42 left before intermission. After Towson closed the gap to five with just over four minutes left before halftime, the Pride scored six of the final eight points of the half to take a nine-point lead into the break. 

The Pride still held a 12-point lead, 44-32, with 3:54 left in the third quarter before Towson gradually chipped away at the deficit. The Tigers closed the third period with a 13-4 run to send the teams into the fourth period with the Pride holding a narrow 48-45 advantage. A three-pointer from Towson's Kionna Jeter evened the score at 48 early in the quarter and Towson would push the lead to five, 55-50, with 6:54 remaining. Three straight free throws, including a pair from Hines, closed the gap to 55-53 for Hofstra, setting up a thrilling finish. The two teams would battle back and forth over the final few minutes of the fourth quarter with Hofstra rallying late as Knight hit a layup at the 3:34 mark and eventually a free throw from Brown with 2:10 left knotted the score at 60 and sent the game into overtime. 

It was all Hofstra in the overtime session as Hofstra scored 17 points in the extra period. Brown got the scoring started almost immediately and Hines added a basket with 4:26 left to make it 64-60. Leading by three, Brown would hit a huge three-pointer with 1:27 left that gave Hofstra a commanding 68-62 lead. The Pride would be clutch from the free throw line in the final minute of overtime as Hofstra hit seven of eight from the charity stripe to ice the victory and move on to the semifinals. 

Redshirt junior Jaala Henry finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Hofstra.

Jeter had 19 points and nine rebounds for Towson, while Aleah Nelson had 11 points and 11 assists. Allie Kubek finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers. 

Hofstra will face either Delaware or UNCW in the semifinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 36-39 all-time against Towson. The Pride's win today ended a seven-game win streak in the series for Towson. 
- Hofstra is in the CAA semifinals for the fourth time in the last decade.
- Brown previously scored 26 points against Delaware on January 17, 2021. 
- Knight previously had eight assists against Towson on January 23, 2021, and five steals last against UNCW on January 31, 2021.