Hempstead, NY – Chloe Sterling led a trio of Hofstra women's basketball players to finish in double figures, but it wasn't enough as the Pride dropped a tightly-fought 62-60 CAA contest at home to Northeastern.
 
Hofstra now sits at 3-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play, and Northeastern improves to 6-10 overall and 2-4 in the CAA.
 
Sterling's season-high 20 points on 7-12 shooting, plus 3-4 from three-point range and 3-4 from the free throw line, led the way for Hofstra against the Huskies. Alarice Gooden shot 7-13 from the floor to finish with 14 points, and Micaela Carter added 11 points on 4-5 shooting with three treys. Meanwhile, Sandra Magolico continues her excellent rebounding against conference opponents with 12 on the day.
 
The Huskies scored the first four points of the contest before Carter opened her day with a three at 7:34 of the first quarter. After baskets by Gooden and Sterling made it a one-point difference after a pair of Huskies buckets, Northeastern pulled in front by six with a 6-1 run with 3:03 left in the quarter. The deficit grew to seven with Northeastern scoring four of the final five points in the first quarter.
 
After Sterling opened the second quarter with a mid-range jumper, Northeastern's Yirsey Quéliz sunk a three to give the visitors an eight point lead 1:22 into the quarter. Gooden sparked a 6-2 Hofstra run at the 7:30 mark to bring the hosts to within three before the 5:05 media timeout, but Northeastern came out of the break to score four straight points to put the lead at seven. Sterling hit a three with 2:42 left in the quarter, making the score 27-20 to Northeastern, but the Huskies scored the next seven points to increase their lead to 11 – the largest of the game – with 10 seconds left before halftime. Sterling knocked down her second three of the half as time expired, making the score 34-26 to Northeastern at the break.
 
The teams traded points to start the third quarter before Hofstra rattled off 12 unanswered points to take a 40-36 lead. Four points each from Gooden, Magolico, and Sterling during the 7:22 stretch gave the Pride its first lead of the game with 1:29 left in the quarter. Northeastern ended Hofstra's run on the very next possession with a two, putting the difference at just two points going into the final stretch.
 
A hook shot from Sterling and a pair of Magolico free throws put Hofstra's lead at six just over a minute into the fourth quarter, but it would be Northeastern's turn to go on a lead-changing run, with the Huskies going on a 7-0 spurt over the course of just over a minute to take a two-point lead with 7:05 remaining in regulation. Ema Karim put the Pride back on top with a three out of the media timeout, but the lead would change another three times, with Northeastern leading by three with 3:03 to go thanks a 5-0 spurt after a three from Carter at the 4:04 mark. A tough layup by Gooden made it a one-point game inside the final two minutes, but Northeastern hit three of its next four free throw to take a four-point lead with 1:01 to go. Hofstra turned the ball on two consecutive possessions, forcing the Pride to foul inside the final minute, and Northeastern grew its lead to eight with four free throws. A basket from downtown by Sterling and two free throw makes by Nevaeh Brown brought the Pride to within three with five seconds, but Northeastern went two-for-two on its next trip to the free throw stripe to up the lead to five. Carter sunk a desperate three off the backboard from just above the center-court logo with a second left on the clock to put the final score at 62-60.
 
Justice Tramble led Northeastern with 13 points, followed by 10 points from Camryn Collins.
 
The Pride's next CAA contest is on the road against Towson on Friday, January 23, at 11 a.m.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra outshot Northeastern, 43.8% (21-48) to 38.0% (19-50), and 31.8% (7-22) from downtown to 21.4% (3-14).
-Sterling is the second member of the Pride to score 20 points in a game this season, joining Magolico's 25 point effort against Yale on November 11, 2025.
-The four points allowed by Hofstra in the third quarter are the fewest allowed to an opponent this season.
-Hofstra is now 27-31 all-time against Northeastern.