Towson, MD – Emma Von Essen scored eight-straight points inside the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, helping lift the Hofstra women's basketball team to a 61-58 win over UNCW in the First Round of the 2023 Colonial Athletic Association Championship presented by Primis from SECU Arena on the campus of Towson University.
 
The #12 seed in the championship, Hofstra moves on to face five-seed North Carolina A&T in the Second Round on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
 
The win improves Hofstra to 11-19 on the year, while the Seahawks ends its season with a record of 5-25.
 
Von Essen finished the game with 12 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Brandy Thomas led the team with 18 points and four blocks, tying a career-high for the All-CAA Second Team selection, while pulling down six rebounds. Zyheima Swint recorded 12 rebounds while scoring 10 points for her third-consecutive double-double, and Sorelle Ineza made it four Hofstra players in double-figures with 13 points.
 
After both teams opened the game with a pair of two-point baskets, Hofstra jumped out to a four-point lead with four straight points by Swint, and Ineza scored four straight of her own to make it a six-point Pride lead at the first quarter media timeout. After UNCW cut the lead to five, Hofstra reeled off 10 unanswered points to lead by 15 at 2:19 in the quarter. UNCW scored two straight field goals to make it a 22-11 game at the end of the first quarter.
 
Hofstra's lead grew to as large as 14 in the second quarter, but UNCW failed to go away as they clawed back into the game down the stretch. After Rosi Nicholson hit a layup at 6:24 to make it a 14-point Hofstra lead, the Seahawks spent the remainder of the quarter erasing Hofstra's advantage with a 14-0 run while keeping Hofstra scoreless after Nicholson's layup. The teams went into halftime with the score tied at 31-31.
 
Ineza opened the third quarter with a driving layup and free throw, followed by a Thomas jumper, to give Hofstra a five-point lead at 7:47. After the media timeout, with Hofstra's lead at four points, Ineza and Nicholson put Hofstra's lead at six at two points, with Ineza scoring a fast-break layup off a steal at 3:41, and Nicholson hit a jumper at 2:04 after a driving layup by UNCW's Jayde Gamble. However, the Seahawks ended the quarter with five-straight points, putting the score at 46-45 in favor of the Pride entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Seahawks evened the score at 46-46 with an early free throw before taking their first lead of the contest with a Gamble layup at 7:16. The Pride responded with a tying layup by Alarice Gooden, followed by a Thomas free throw to give the team a one-point lead inside the final five minutes of regulation. After the final media timeout, Lexi Jackson put UNCW back ahead with a layup off a turnover, and Gamble put the Seahawks ahead by three with a layup at 3:25.
 
Von Essen hit her first three-pointer of the game to tie it up at 52-52, before she made her second three from almost the same spot in front of the Hofstra bench on the next possession to put the team back in front. She made it a five-point Hofstra lead after a steal by Thomas with a driving layup off the glass with 1:28 to go. UNCW's Evan Miller made it a two-point game with a three at 1:13, but Hofstra responded on the very next possession with a Thomas layup to make it a 59-55 Hofstra lead with 45 seconds to go. The Seahawks cut the deficit to one with a three-point play with nine seconds left, but Ineza sunk a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice the game and advance the Pride to the next round.
 
Carrie Gross led UNCW with 18 points, while Miller finished with 15 points, and Gamble scored 12.
 
Thursday's second round game will air on FloHoops and WRHU 88.7 FM.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra improves to 26-19 all-time after Wednesday's win. It marks the seventh straight Hofstra win over UNCW.
-With the win, Hofstra has won at least one CAA Championship game for the fourth time in five seasons.
-The last three meetings between Hofstra and UNCW have been decided by a combined five points.
-Thomas' four blocks equals her previous high of four set as a freshman at LIU against NJIT on December 9, 2018.
-The Pride outrebounded UNCW, 34-31, while UNCW had eight steals to Hofstra's six in the game.