Washington, DC – A stellar 2024-25 season of Hofstra women's basketball came to a sudden end in the second round of the 2025 Credit Union 1 CAA Women's Basketball Championship with a 76-65 defeat to William & Mary from CareFirst Arena.
 
Alarice Gooden's fine form at the end of the season continued into Thursday's game, scoring 18 points to lead all players, while Emma Von Essen finished with 13 points on the day, Janaia Fargo scored 11 points, and CAA All-Rookie Team selection LaNae' Corbett posted 10 points against the Tribe. Zyheima Swint scored eight points and pulled down eight rebounds, and Fargo and Gooden dished out a team-leading three assists each.
 
William & Mary led by six with 6:37 left in the first quarter before the Pride tied the game at 8-8 with six unanswered points by Gooden, Swint, and Von Essen. The Tribe pulled ahead with four straight points, and a contested jumper by Swint put the Pride down by two with 1:34 left in the quarter. William & Mary scored the final four points of the quarter to end it with the Tribe leading 18-12.
 
The lead grew to eight 22 seconds into the second quarter, but a three by Von Essen 12 seconds later sparked a 9-0 run that saw Von Essen score another two points and Corbett contribute four points in the burst to put the Pride ahead by one before the media timeout at 7:07. The lead was traded another two times, with a three from Gooden giving Hofstra a two-point lead at 5:53, but William & Mary pulled ahead with a three by Rebekah Frisby-Smith on their next possession to lead by one, and a layup at 4:53 by Monet Dance gave the Tribe a three point lead. Baskets were traded down the stretch of the quarter, before a stretch of free throws by Corbett and Ramatoulaye Keita evened the score at 33-33 with 1:06 left before halftime. Bella Nascimento sunk a three with eight seconds left put the Tribe on top by three entering the break.
 
With William & Mary leading by one after a three from Fargo at 8:58, the Tribe went on a 9-2 run to take an eight-point lead with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter. Gooden sunk a three on Hofstra's next possession to make it a five-point difference, but back-to-back threes gave the Tribe an 11-point lead with 2:33 left in the quarter. Von Essen cut the margin to eight with a three of her own, but Cassidy Geddes sunk a three to beat the buzzer, putting William & Mary ahead 57-46 going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Tribe's lead grew to as large as 18 points as they connected on 50% of their shots in the fourth quarter. Hofstra managed to get the difference into single digits with two threes by Fargo and a triple from Gooden, plus a layup by Swint, to trail by nine with just over a minute left in regulation. Unfortunately, William & Mary ran out most of the remaining clock while icing the game with two free throws inside the final 20 seconds.
 
Nascimento led the Tribe with 17 points, and Dance finished with a team-best eight rebounds.
 
Hofstra ends its 2024-25 season with a 14-16 record.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra leads the all-time series against William & Mary with a 32-22-1 record.
-With a block against the Tribe, Swint finishes her Hofstra career with 112 blocks, third-most in program history.
-With three three-pointers against William & Mary, Von Essen ends the season with 205 career threes. She is three shy of tying and four away from passing Nicole Capurso (208, 2008-12) for third-most in Hofstra women's basketball history. Additionally, Von Essen finishes the season with 71 three-pointers, tied with Olivia Askin (71, 2017-18) for ninth-most threes in a season in program history.
-With eight rebounds, Swint ends her career with 876 rebounds, eight-most in Hofstra history.
-Gooden scored double figures in three of the Pride's final four games.