West Long Branch, NJ – A 26-point night from LaNae' Corbett and 50 rebounds by the Hofstra women's basketball team helped pave the way to a 75-67 road win over Monmouth from OceanFirst Bank Center to kick off the Coastal Athletic Association schedule for the Pride.
 
Hofstra improves to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in league play with its third consecutive win, and Monmouth drops to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in the CAA. The loss to the Pride snaps Monmouth's five-game winning streak.
 
Corbett, who scored her previous high of 24 points last week against Iona, tallied her 26 points on 12-18 shooting and 2-5 from the free throw line, and she pulled down seven rebounds against the Hawks. Ramatoulaye Keita led all players with 13 rebounds and five blocks to go with her eight points, and Chloe Sterling scored 14 points to go with four assists and four rebounds.
 
Monmouth scored seven of the first nine points of the game before Hofstra scored seven points in over a minute to take a 9-7 lead at the 6:08 mark. Monmouth responded with a 7-2 run to lead, 14-11, at 3:59. Hofstra tied the game thanks to a two-point jumper by Alarice Gooden at 3:05 and a three from Emma Von Essen at 2:35 after a Monmouth layup to tie the game at 16-16, but the Hawks ended the quarter with a 6-0 run to lead, 22-16, heading into the second quarter.
 
Hofstra exploded out of the break with an 8-1 run lasting 2:37 to retake the lead. Keita scored the first four points of the second quarter, while Sabrina Larsson connected on a jumper at 7:33, and Sterling put the Pride in front by one at 6:51 before the media timeout on a two-pointer off a Monmouth turnover. Zyheima Swint converted a layup out of the media timeout to put the Pride's lead at three, but Monmouth countered with a layup at 5:56 and a made free throw at 4:21 to tie the game at 26-26. Swint scored another layup on the next Hofstra possession to put the guests in front by two, but a Monmouth three gave the home side a one-point lead with 3:34 remaining before halftime. The Hawks upped its lead to three at 2:34, but baskets from Von Essen and Micaela Carter put Hofstra back in front, and Sterling connected on a buzzer-beater three from midcourt to send Hofstra into the locker room with a 35-31 lead.
 
Corbett scored six of Hofstra's first eight points of the third quarter to lead the Hawks by eight, but Monmouth responded with a 9-0 run lasting just under two minutes to lead by one at 5:14 of the quarter. A free throw at 4:21 put the Hawks ahead by two, but Hofstra retook the lead for good thanks to an 11-0 run starting with a Corbett layup at 4:06 until a pair of Hawk free throws with 45 seconds left. Corbett poured in six of the 11 Pride points during the run, and she scored the final four points of the quarter, sending the game to the fourth quarter with Hofstra on top, 58-47.
 
Four points in the opening 1:30 of the fourth quarter brought the Hawks to within seven of the Pride. Hofstra scored six unanswered points to lead once again by 11 with 6:22 left in regulation. Hofstra maintained a healthy lead over Monmouth for the entirety of the fourth quarter to pick up the win in the conference opener.
 
Damaris Rodriguez was Monmouth's leading scorer with 23 points, and Taisha Exanor pulled down a team-leading 11 rebounds.
 
Hofstra's CAA-opening weekend continues on Sunday, January 5, with a trip to Delaware to take on the Fightin' Blue Hens. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra snaps a seven-game losing streak against Monmouth to improve to 6-10 all-time against the Hawks. This is Hofstra's first win over Monmouth since November 25, 1997.
-Keita's five blocks are the most in a game by a Hofstra player since Zaniyyah Ross-Barnes blocked five against Stony Brook on January 1, 2023.
-The 23 offensive rebounds are the most by Hofstra in a game since recording 23 against Hartford on November 6, 2019.
-Hofstra held Monmouth to one three-pointer on 10 attempts in the second half.