Hempstead, NY – Sorelle Ineza and Rosi Nicholson finished in double-figures for the Pride, but the Hofstra women's basketball team suffered a 65-54 loss to Delaware at home from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex Friday night.
 
Hofstra's loss puts the team at 9-15 overall and 3-10 in the Colonial Athletic Association, and Delaware moves to 14-10 overall and 7-6 in the conference.
 
Ineza scored 17 points for the Pride on the night, and Nicholson added 11 for the home side in the home defeat. Brandy Thomas pulled down a team-best six rebounds on the night, while she and Ally Knights tied for the team lead in steals with four each.
 
The Pride opened with a jumper by Ineza and a Knights three-pointer to lead, 5-2, before Delaware scored five straight points of their to pull in front by two with 2:53 left in the first quarter. A Nicholson three put the Pride back in front by one, but the lead didn't last as Delaware pulled back in front 30 seconds and scored a free throw from Makayla Pippin to go up by two. Ineza sunk a pair of free throws at 1:53, putting the score at 10-10 entering the second quarter.
 
Janaia Fargo hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc a minute into the second quarter to put Hofstra ahead, and a driving layup by Ineza at 8:01 gave the Pride a five-point advantage over Delaware. After a Nakiyah Mays-Prince basket cut Hofstra's lead to three, the Pride went ahead by six at three different points of the second quarter. Jada Peacock nailed a three from the corner at 5:36, Ineza drove to the basket and connected on a layup at 4:52, and Knights hit her own driving layup at 3:53.
Delaware tied the game with an 8-2 run, culminating in a Mays-Prince three-pointer with 2:14 left in the quarter, but Knights hit a contested layup and sunk the ensuing free throw to lead by three with under two minutes to go. The Fightin' Blue Hens made it a one-point game with two Michelle Ojo free throws, and the teams traded two-point baskets inside the final 30 seconds to put the score at 29-28 in favor of the Pride going into the break.
 
A three from Emma Von Essen put the Pride ahead by four 50 seconds into the third quarter, but Delaware scored five straight points to go up by one at the 8:04 mark. Nicholson ended Delaware's run with a pull up jumper off a turnover at 7:25, but Tara Cousins put Delaware back in front with a pull up jumper of her own, starting a 7-1 Delaware run to see the visitors go in front by five. The Fightin' Blue Hens led by as many as eight at the 1:28 mark of the quarter following a fast break layup by Klarke Sconiers before Hofstra ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to trail by three, with Nicholson scoring a jumper at 24 seconds, and Ineza finishing off a steal by Von Essen with a layup and free throw at the three-second mark.
 
Delaware outscored Hofstra 17-9 in the final quarter to earn the 11-point win over the hosts. Zyheima Swint converted a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one point at 9:45, but Delaware scored the next 10 points over a span of 4:34 to lead, 58-47. Hofstra made it a single-digit deficit with two Thomas free throws and an Ineza layup to trail by nine, but it would be the closest Hofstra would come to tying the game.
 
Sconiers led Delaware with 16 points, while Mays-Prince scored 13 for the Fightin' Blue Hens, and Jewel Smalls led all players with nine rebounds.
 
Hofstra travels to Massachusetts for a Sunday CAA contest against Northeastern (). Tip-off from the Cabot Center is scheduled for 3 p.m. on FloHoops.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra recorded 14 steals against Delaware, the most in a game by the Pride this season since a 16-steal effort against New Orleans on December 21.
-Hofstra's 14 turnovers were the second-fewest by the team in a game this season.
-Sorelle Ineza has scored at least 10 points in six consecutive games.
-Delaware outrebounded Hofstra, 45-28, and limited Hofstra to 28.3-percent shooting for the night.
-Hofstra's all-time record against Delaware drops to 12-70.