Wilmington, NC – The Hofstra women's basketball team had four players finish in double figures, but the Pride dropped a tightly-contested 70-67 decision in overtime against UNCW from the Trask Coliseum Friday evening.
 
Zyheima Swint led the Pride in scoring with 14 points, followed by 12 points from Ramatoulaye Keita, and 11 points each from Chloe Sterling and Emma Von Essen. Keita also led the team with six rebounds, while Sterling matched a season-high assist total with six against the Seahawks.
 
Hofstra drops to 9-10 overall and 4-4 in the Coastal Athletic Association, and UNCW improves to 11-10 overall and 5-3 in league play.
 
UNCW scored the first four points of the opening quarter before Hofstra responded with points from Swint on back-to-back possessions to tie the game. The teams traded baskets on consecutive possessions until Von Essen sunk a three at 4:54 to put the Pride on top by one just before the media timeout. Hofstra's lead grew to five with another three by Von Essen and a layup from Ayen Angoi gave Hofstra a five-point lead with 2:14 left in the quarter. Hofstra answered UNCW shot for shot to keep the five-point lead before Keita upped it to seven with a jumper with 19 seconds on the clock to put the Pride ahead, 22-15.
 
UNCW cut into Hofstra's lead with four straight points to open the second quarter, but Janaia Fargo connected on a three-pointer to give the Pride a six-point lead inside the first two minutes of the quarter. The Seahawks rattled off a 6-0 run to tie the score at 25-25 before Sabrina Larsson finished scored a second chance layup at 4:47 to put the Pride back on top. UNCW's Ali Zelaya tied the game up on the next Seahawk possession, but threes from Sterling and Micaela Carter on consecutive possessions gave Hofstra its six-point lead back. The Seahawks responded with back-to-back threes of their own to tie the game at 33-33 with 3:32 to go before halftime. The teams again traded two-point baskets inside the final two minutes before Keita ended the quarter with a second chance layup to give the Pride a two-point advantage going into the break.
 
With the score tied at 41-41 63 seconds into the third quarter, Hofstra went off for an 8-0 run lasting 2:21 for the biggest lead of the night for either side at eight before Zelaya ended the run at the 5:27 mark. Hofstra continued to answer UNCW on the offensive end, keeping between a five and seven-point lead for the second half of the quarter before Corrie McLaughlin scored a jumper off a Hofstra turnover at 1:45 and Jania Hall sunk one of two free throws to end the quarter with the score at 55-51 to the Pride.
 
After a Keita layup put the Pride ahead by five 67 seconds into the start of the furth quarter, UNCW cut the lead to one at the 6:07 mark after baskets on two consecutive possessions. Baskets from Sterling and Swint re-established the five-point Hofstra lead with 5:16 to go in regulation, but the Seahawks rallied for six unanswered points to give the hosts its first lead of the game since 5:08 of the first quarter. LaNae' Corbett tied the game at 62-62 with a late free throw, but neither team was able to score the go-ahead basket in the final moments of regulation.
 
UNCW took an early four-point lead to start overtime before Von Essen brought the Pride to within one with her third three-pointer of the game. Zelaya scored a layup with 35 seconds left to put the home team ahead by three before Swint scored a jumper 10 seconds later to put the Pride back to within one. A pair of late free throws put UNCW ahead by three, and a desperation three-point attempt by Von Essen with seconds left sailed wide before time expired.
 
Zelaya led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Seahawks.
 
Hofstra concludes its two-game weekend trip to the Carolinas on Sunday, February 2, with a rematch against Charleston. Tip-off against the Cougars will be at 2 p.m.
 
NOTES:
-Tonight's loss snaps an eight-game Hofstra winning streak against UNCW. The Pride leads the all-time series 27-20.
-Hofstra shot 44.4% from the floor to UNCW's 42.2% and the Pride pulled down 40 rebounds to UNCW's 36.
-UNCW scored 40 points in the paint compared to Hofstra's 30, and the Seahawks scored 18 points off of 20 Hofstra turnovers.
-With three three-pointers against UNCW, Von Essen now has 186 career threes. She needs one to tie and two to pass Tonya Yandrisevitz (186, 1989-93) for fourth on the program leaderboard for career threes.