Jacksonville, FL – The Hofstra women's basketball team managed to claw back into its game against Jacksonville with a 20-point fourth quarter, but the comeback wasn't to be as the Dolphins picked up an 84-70 win over the Pride from Swisher Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.
Hofstra sees its record slip to 2-4 following the loss, and Jacksonville improves to 5-3.
Emma Von Essen was one of four Hofstra players to finish in double-digits, dropping 18 points on the Dolphins behind a season-high five three-pointers, while
Chloe Sterling scored 16 points for the Pride, and
Janaia Fargo and
Sabrina Larsson both scored 11 in the contest.
Ramatoulaye Keita paced the Pride with 10 rebounds.
Hofstra led by six points at the first quarter media timeout at 4:57 behind seven points from Sterling and threes by Von Essen and
Janaia Fargo. Another three by Sterling gave Hofstra a nine-point lead at 3:07, but Jacksonville closed the gap with an 8-2 run to pull to within three with 1:35 remaining in the quarter. Larsson knocked down her first trey of the afternoon at 1:09 to put Hofstra's lead at six going into the second quarter.
The Dolphins outscored Hofstra, 22-9, in the second quarter to lead, 37-30, over the Pride going into halftime. After the hosts evened the score at 24-24 with a 9-3 run to open the quarter, layups on consecutive Hofstra possessions by Keita and
Zyheima Swintput the Pride back on top by four. After two free throws by Sterling gave Hofstra a six-point lead at the 6:01 mark, the Pride went cold for the remainder of the quarter while Jacksonville scored 13 unanswered points to lead by seven at the break.
Jacksonville's lead grew to double-digits with seven of the first 10 points of the third quarter, putting the Dolphins ahead, 44-33. Hofstra cut the lead to single digits with a
LaNae' Corbett layup at 8:24 and a pair of Keita free throws. A free throw from Corbett brought to Pride to within eight before Jacksonville rattled off five unanswered points to lead by 13 with 5:38 left in the quarter. Threes by Larsson and a close-range jumper from Sterling put the Pride down six at the 2:01 mark, but Jacksonville ended the frame on a 7-2 spurt to lead by 11 going into the fourth quarter.
The Dolphin lead ballooned to 17 points with six points to open the fourth quarter, but the Pride fought back and scored 11 unanswered points on a Corbett layup and three consecutive three-pointers by Von Essen to make it a six-point difference with 5:07 remaining in regulation. Jacksonville scored four points on the next two possessions to set the difference back to 10 points, before a Von Essen jumper at 3:07 brought the Pride to within eight. The teams traded points for the next couple of minutes, with the Pride unable to close the gap and the Dolphins unable to put the game away, and a layup by Keita gave Hofstra a chance for a comeback down six with 1:56 to play. After a Keita free throw made the score 75-70 in favor of Jacksonville with 1:22 remaining, the hosts put the comeback attempt to rest with nine unanswered points – seven of those on free throws – to see out the game.
Edyn Battle led all players with 26 points in Saturday's contest, and Saniyah Craig pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds.
Hofstra concludes its stay in Florida on Monday, December 2, with a 7 p.m. contest against Florida from Gainesville.
NOTES:
-The 13 three-pointers on 31 attempts are a season-high for the Pride.
-Sterling matched her career-high of six assists against the Dolphins.
-Jacksonville outrebounded Hofstra, 41-31.
-With five threes against Jacksonville, Von Essen now has 154 for her career, moving her past Kelly Loftus (148, 13-16) for the seventh-most three pointers in a career at Hofstra. She needs 10 threes to tie and 11 to pass Krystal Luciano (164, 14-17) and move into sixth.
-Hofstra is now 0-1 all-time against Jacksonville.
