Towson, MD – Despite Alarice Gooden and Sandra Magolico finishing in double figures, the Hofstra women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Towson Friday morning, losing 58-55 on a last-second three pointer from inside SECU Arena.
 
Hofstra slips to 3-15 overall and 1-6 in Coastal Athletic Association competition with the loss, and Towson improves to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in league play.
 
Gooden paced the Pride with 17 points with a career-high eight field goals, plus three assists and two rebounds, while Magolico finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds with two assists and a block. Chloe Sterling led Hofstra with four assists, and Ema Karim produced three steals.
 
The teams traded the lead four times inside the first three minutes of the contest before Towson took a three-point lead with an India Johnston jumper at 6:57, but a 6-0 Hofstra rally thanks to points from Nevaeh Brown, Deivejon Harris, and Chloe Sterling put the Pride ahead by three with 54 seconds left in the quarter. A three from Thalia Shepard eight seconds before time expired put the score at 9-9 to end the first quarter.
 
A Johnston three 50 seconds into the second quarter gave Towson the lead, but Hofstra came right back with an 11-0 run lasting over two minutes to take an eight-point lead, with a banked three-pointer by Micaela Carter at 5:53 to beat the shot clock capping off the run and giving the Pride its biggest lead of the contest. Johnston ended Hofstra's run with a three of her own on the next possession, and a layup by Tilda Sjökvist brought the Tigers to within three before a Magolico free throw made it a four-point difference with 3:49 left before halftime. The teams traded two-point baskets on the next four possessions, with the lead never growing past four and the deficit never going below two, until Harris went 1-2 at the free throw line to put the Pride's lead at five with 1:07 left before halftime. Towson scored five unanswered points to end the quarter with the score tied at 26-26.
 
Hofstra came out of the halftime break firing, scoring seven unanswered points before the media timeout at 6:57, to lead 33-26. Viki Matulevicius cut the difference to four with a three out of the timeout, but a Gooden free throw and a two from Brown at 4:52 put the Pride's lead at seven. A three from Carter at 3:52 countered a two from the Tigers seconds earlier and put the lead at eight, and the teams traded twos on the next four possessions until Towson ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to trail by three.
 
A two from Gooden to open the fourth quarter put the Pride ahead by five, and she laid in another basket after a Towson free throw to give the guests a six-point lead. Towson cut the Hofstra lead to two with a pair of layups, but Magolico ended the brief run with a layup of her own at 6:03 to make the Pride's lead four points. Towson made it a one-point game with three straight points, but Gooden put the Pride's lead at three with 5:29 left in regulation. A two-pointer from Matulevicius after the 4:04 media timeout put the difference back at one points, but a Magolico layup and a Gooden jumper gave Hofstra a 55-50 lead with 1:41 left on the clock. Towson erased the deficit over the next minute with a 5-0 run, with a Johnston layup with 25 seconds left tying the score. Hofstra turned the ball over on its next possession, and Sjökvist knocked down the winning three in the corner with 0.9 seconds left to complete the comeback.
 
Johnston led all players with 24 points, and Matulevicius scored 10 points for the Tigers.
 
Hofstra returns to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex for an 11 a.m. contest against reigning CAA champions William & Mary on Sunday. Visit HofstraTickets.com for all ticket information.
 
NOTES:
-Eight of Gooden's 17 points came in the fourth quarter.
-Hofstra outshot Towson, 42.1% (24-57) to 37.1% (23-62), but Towson connected on seven three-pointers to Hofstra's two.
-Hofstra is now 38-44 all-time against Towson.