Hempstead, NY – In a game that was tied eight times and featured 14 lead changes, the Hofstra women's basketball team dropped a tough 69-67 loss at home to Colonial Athletic Association foe Monmouth from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex to close out the team's home 2022-23 schedule on Sunday.
 
Prior to Sunday's tip-off, Head Coach Danielle Santos Atkinson and the Hofstra women's basketball team honored graduating seniors Jada Peacock, Rosi Nicholson, and Brandy Thomas.
 
The Pride falls to 9-18 overall and 3-13 in the CAA after Sunday's loss. Monmouth leaves the Mack Sports Complex with an overall record of 13-14 and a conference record of 8-8.
 
In her final home game in a Hofstra uniform, Thomas scored 19 points on 7-13 from the floor and a perfect 3-3 from three-point range, in addition to two free throws. Emma Von Essen added 13 points for the Pride, and Zyheima Swint scored 12 points and led all players with seven rebounds, plus a team-best three steals. Ally Knights dished out six assists and finished with five points.
 
Monmouth pulled ahead by five twice in the first five minutes of the first quarter, but Hofstra kept its composure and tied the game at 10-10 with points from Swint, Knights, and Sorelle Ineza at 4:37. Monmouth retook the lead with a three – one of 11 three-pointers for the Hawks – before back-to-back layups by Ineza and Swint put the Pride ahead by one at 2:25. Monmouth ended the quarter with four unanswered points to lead, 19-16.
 
Von Essen cut the deficit to one with a two pointer to open the second quarter, but Monmouth pulled ahead with a three-pointer to put the Pride behind by four. Von Essen and Swint baskets tied the game at 22-22 at the 5:51 mark, but Monmouth quickly countered with baskets on two consecutive possessions to lead once again by four. The Monmouth lead grew to five with 4:10 left on the clock, but Hofstra with a pair of Thomas free throws and a Nicholson corner three to tie the game at 29-29. Monmouth's Ella Farrelly gave Monmouth a two-point lead at 1:43, but Thomas responded with a two-pointer of her own to send the teams into the locker room with the score at 31-31.
 
Hofstra took the lead to start the third quarter with five straight Thomas points, and they later led again by five on a free throw and layup from Knights at 7:55. Janaia Fargo put the Pride's lead at three with a free throw after an Elizabeth Marsicano three-pointer. Monmouth scored nine of the next 10 points to lead by five with 4:09 to play in the quarter, and the Hawks grew the lead to eight with back-to-back two-pointers. A three from Von Essen at 2:34 opened a 10-2 Hofstra run that extended until the final buzzer of the quarter, with the Pride getting three points from Swint and two points from Fargo and Ineza to send the game into the fourth quarter with the score at 52-52.
 
Belle Kranbuhl scored on a layup inside the first minute of the fourth quarter to put the Hawks on top, but Von Essen sunk a three-pointer of the game to give the Pride a one-point lead with plenty of time left on the clock. Hofstra and Monmouth traded the lead on their next possessions, with a two-pointer by Monmouth's Lucy Thomas and a two from Hofstra's Thomas, before Monmouth scored on two-straight possessions to lead by three. Von Essen tied it up with her third three of the game at 4:11, but Monmouth produced another four straight points to lead by four with 2:41 on the clock.
 
Hofstra rallied for five unanswered points on a Thomas three and an Ineza layup to lead by one with 1:50 to go, but Monmouth retook the lead with a three-pointer by Ariana Vanderhoop with 1:23 left. On Hofstra's next possession, Ineza drove the lane and tied the game with a tough layup with 58 seconds to go in regulation. After Hofstra's attempts to take a late lead were unsuccessful, Monmouth got the ball with 0.5 seconds left. Vanderhoop drew a foul as she was shooting with 0.2 seconds left, and she hit the ensuing free throws to give Monmouth the two-point win over the Pride.
 
Marsicano led the Hawks with 18 points in the win, and Vanderhoop finished with 12.
 
The Pride hits the road for their final two games of the regular season, starting off on March 2 with a clash at Hampton (10-16, 6-8 CAA) at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra finished 7-13 from three-point range for a 53.8 shooting percentage. It's the team's second-highest three-point shooting percentage in a game this season, and it's the most threes in a game by Hofstra since making eight against Northeastern on January 22.
-With three rebounds, Brandy Thomas is now five rebounds shy of 1,000 career rebounds.
-The Pride finished with at least 10 steals in a game for the sixth time this season.
-Monmouth leads the all-time series, 9-5.