Greensboro, NC – The Hofstra women's basketball team led he entire way against North Carolina A&T, never once surrendering the lead in all 40 minutes as the Pride claimed a 60-51 win over the defending CAA regular season champions from inside Corbett Sports Center.
Hofstra improves to 5-19 overall and 3-10 in CAA competition, and the Lady Aggies slip to 9-15 overall and 4-9 in conference play.
Nevaeh Brown paced the Pride with 17 points on 5-8 shooting and 4-4 from three-point range, plus a free throw, while
Ema Karim went 5-8 from the floor, 3-5 from downtown, and 1-1 at the line for 14 points. Brown also led Hofstra with eight rebounds, and
Chloe Sterling dished out a game-high seven assists.
The Pride raced out to a 7-0 lead before Jamiya Lindsey sunk the first North Carolina A&T three of the contest at 6:13. A layup by Paris Locke brought the hosts within two before Brown connected on back-to-back threes to give Hofstra an eight-point lead with 3:28 left in the quarter. Following a D'Mya Tucker jumper and free throw by
Micaela Carter, North Carolina A&T closed the gap to four points with a three by Crystal Hardy with 40 seconds left, but
Michaela Hodge drove the lane for a layup and converted the free throw for a three-point play, giving the Pride a seven-point lead.
The teams went shot-for-shot in the second quarter, with the Lady Aggies unable to bridge the gap any closer than three and the Pride unable to lead by any more than eight points. The teams combined to shoot 14-27 from the floor and 5-12 from three-point range, with Karim connecting on three from beyond the arc and Brown sinking one from downtown for Hofstra, as the teams went into the halftime break with the score at 35-31 in favor of Hofstra.
Chaniya Clark scored four of the first six points of the third quarter to bring the Lady Aggies to within two with 6:58 on the clock, but it would be the closest the hosts would come to tying or taking the lead as Hofstra scored the next six points on a Gooden steal-and-layup, a Karim reverse layup, and a pair of free throws by
Ayen Angoi put the difference at eight points with 4:36 left in the quarter. Hofstra continued its scoring run after Anaya Karriem converted a layup with four straight points by Brown to take a 10-point lead at the 2:52 mark. North Carolina A&T cut the difference to six with threes on back-to-back offensive possessions, but a free throw by Garrett inside the final two minutes put the score at 50-43 to Hofstra heading into the final 10 minutes.
Outside of a Clark layup at 6:40, neither team was able to score from the floor as Brown went 1-2 from the stripe at 7:48 and Clark converted a free throw at 6:40 to put the difference at five points. It would be the last points North Carolina A&T would score until 2:17, as the Pride locked down the Lady Aggies offense while a three-point play by Karim put Hofstra back in front by eight. A
Sandra Magolico layup at 1:34 and a three by Brown – her fourth of the contest – with 47 seconds left put the game out of reach, and a Sterling free throw with 28 seconds left gave the Pride a 12-point lead. Clark knocked down a three with 16 seconds left to cut the difference to nine, but Hofstra ran out the remaining time to pick up the CAA win.
Clark scored 21 points for the Lady Aggies, followed by Hardy with 11.
Hofstra returns to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Sunday, February 22, against UNCW at 1 p.m. in its annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 2-4 all-time against North Carolina A&T. This is Hofstra's first win over the Lady Aggies in the regular season, and the win snaps Hofstra's four-game losing streak to North Carolina A&T.
-Angoi finished with two of Hofstra's four blocks against the Lady Aggies.
-Sterling has averaged 5.8 assists over her last four games.
-All of Hofstra's CAA wins have come on Sundays.
