Charleston, SC – Despite a career-high 17 points from
Ema Karim and a 42-36 rebounding edge against one of the top rebounding teams in the country, the Hofstra women's basketball team suffered a 72-55 loss to Charleston in the Coastal Athletic Association opener Friday night from TD Arena.
Hofstra drops to 2-10 overall and 0-1 in CAA play, and the Cougars are now 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Karim's 17 points came on 6-9 shooting from the floor, including a 5-8 effort from three-point range, and she contributed two rebounds.
Chloe Sterling also finished in double figures with 10 points against the Cougars plus four rebounds and four assists, and
Sandra Magolico pulled down a personal-best 14 rebounds in the loss.
The Pride rattled off an 8-2 run behind back-to-back threes by Karim and a second chance bucket by Sterling to lead by four early, but Charleston took the lead on five straight points at the media timeout at 3:56. A layup by
Deivejon Harris helped Hofstra retake the lead with 3:13 left in the quarter, but Charleston ended the first on a 6-0 run to lead by five.
The Cougars' run extended into the second quarter with another four points to lead by nine before a timeout at 9:35. Sparked by eight
Emma Von Essen points and a Sterling jumper in the paint, Hofstra cut Charleston's lead to one with 6:08 remaining before halftime, but Charleston grew its lead to four at the five minute mark. A layup and two free throws by Sterling tied the score at 24-24 before Charleston scored four points of their own to retake the lead with 2:41 to play. The score became tied once again after a Magolico layup and a transition bucket by
Sana'a Garrett after she recorded a steal with 1:51 on the clock. A pair of Charleston free throws gave the hosts a two-point lead inside the final minute of the quarter, but Garrett tied the game once again on a layup with 21 seconds to go, and the score was deadlocked at 30-30 heading into halftime.
Hofstra roared out of halftime with a run of 10 unanswered points, sparked by a pair of threes by Karim and an
Alarice Gooden trey on consecutive possessions by the Pride, to lead by eight at the 8:21 mark. Charleston ended Hofstra's run with six points on three straight possessions to trail by four, but the Pride kept the Cougars at bay with layups from Magolico and Harris to push the lead to eight with 5:47 left in the third quarter. A 10-3 Charleston run lasting just under four minutes made it a one-point difference with 1:04 left in the quarter, but a nifty Karim layup with 39 seconds left on the clock gave the Pride a three-point cushion going into the fourth quarter.
Charleston opened the fourth quarter with four straight points to lead by one before Hofstra retook the lead on a Harris jumper at 7:19. After a pair of Harris free throws countered a Charleston two, the Cougars retook the lead with six straight points before a running jumper by Sterling at 3:08 made it a three-point game. The Cougars clamped down on the Pride at both ends of the court, keeping Hofstra scoreless for the remainder of the game while scoring the next 14 points to come away with the win.
Sisters Taryn and Taylor Barbot combined for 41 points to lead Charleston, with Taryn scoring 24 points and Taylor finishing with 17, and Tyja Beans also finished in double-digits with 12 points.
Hofstra's lengthy road trip concludes on Sunday, January 4, with a 1 p.m. matchup against UNCW.
NOTES:
-11 of Karim's 17 points came in the third quarter.
-Hofstra held Charleston to 2-10 from beyond the arc for the first three quarters before the Cougars shot 4-6 from three-point range in the fourth quarter.
-With two three-pointers against Charleston, Von Essen now has 220 threes for her career. She needs 10 to tie and 11 to pass Jen Brickey (230, 1999-03) for second-most in program history.
