Mike Rudin – Sports Editor The Hofstra Pride bounced back from a two-game losing streak to defeat the Northeastern Huskies in a 66-45 blowout. The Pride moved in the right direction against conference opponents after losing three of the last four games in the Colonial Athletic Association.
“It’s nice being the aggressor tonight,” said head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. “Last game we were running scared, we just weren’t playing with confidence and so I was just very happy their attitude and their effort was amazing tonight.”
Ashunae Durant put up a double-double, coach Kilburn-Steveskey commented on her potential and her talent. “Not even close [to having a limit]. As great as Shante Evans was, it’s funny to me, [Durant] has a lot of potential and a lot of great years ahead of her and she works really hard and wants to be great. She also wants to be great off the court and in the classroom.”
Hofstra managed to pull off the win in impressive fashion – winning by 21 points – but the fact Hofstra didn’t hit a single three all night makes it more surprising.
Both teams hit the ground running to start the game, as Hofstra scored first with a Luciano layup and Northeastern retaliated with a jumper by Kazzidy Stewart. The same trend would follow for the first three minutes in the game until the score was 8-4 by the 16:25 mark in the first, thanks to a layup by Elo Edeferioka.
After the Huskies followed up with one more layup, the Pride hit a hot streak with an 8-2 run in a span of 3:12. Turnovers were a problem early on for the Huskies, as they committed nine in the first 10:35 of the game. The Pride took advantage of the Northeastern’s subpar ball handling, with five steals during that same span.
The rally pushed the Pride to take a sustainable, seven-point lead in the middle of the first half. Northeastern fought with Hofstra to regain some lost ground but the Pride held their seven-point lead at the 9:22 mark.
The Huskies kept chipping small fractions of the Pride lead – going toe-to-toe for a moment with a 3-3 run – but it didn’t suffice as Hofstra pulled away with a 4-0 mini run.
Northeastern called a timeout immediately afterwards to get the Huskies to break Hofstra’s momentum and to reorganize their unit.
The timeout came in a vital spot for the Huskies and helped them thrive and go on a 7-2 rally to cut Hofstra’s lead down to five points for a brief moment.
By the time Northeastern finished their rally, there was 2:02 left in the first period and the Pride finished the half with a 5-0 run to elevate back to a double-digit lead. The Pride was up 35-25 heading to the visiting locker rooms at halftime.
Kelly Loftus and Ashunae Durant played aggressive and attacked down low in the first, scoring a combined 21 points in 37 minutes of combined playing time – 11 points in 20 minutes from Loftus and 10 points in 17 minutes from Durant.
Hofstra made great use of the turnovers by Northeastern, scoring 15 points in the first off forced turnovers while the Huskies scored seven.
“Team effort. We did highlight how successful we’ve been, coach Denise King put [it] together and showed what was making us get these twelve wins…they bought in [tonight],” said Kilburn-Steveskey.
Hofstra took advantage scoring down low and in the paint with 16 points from the Pride while Northeastern scored eight.
The momentum remained in the second half, with Hofstra not allowing the Huskies to take a lead once.
Hofstra jumped out in front to boost their lead by 14 points in the first 3:02 of the second half.
Northeastern retaliated back with a 4-0 run, but the Pride defense got back in sync and allowed the offense to get rolling with another rally.
The Pride propelled their lead to 17 points at the 10:26 mark, thanks to an 8-2 run in five minutes-and-eight seconds.
After some back-and-forth scoring from both teams, the Pride led by 18 points before a timeout was called, but the moment Hofstra stepped back on the court they got into another groove.
Hofstra churned out another 8-2 run that secured their lead past the 20-point mark with 3:57 left to go.
Hofstra ended the game with a pair of free throws by Stephania Oramas to put the Pride’s lead up to 21 points.
Hofstra’s main supply of scoring was down low and inside the arc – outscoring the Huskies 38-14 in the paint.
Northeastern’s 18 turnovers led to 13 Hofstra steals, correlating to 21 points scored off of turnovers.
Hofstra improved to 13-7 overall (6-3, CAA) and hold on to their third place spot in the CAA standings – by a half a game over the Elon Phoenix. Hofstra currently sits behind the first place James Madison Dukes and the Drexel Dragons.
Hofstra will return home for their next matchup against the University of Delaware on Feb. 1, this upcoming Sunday, starting at 2:00 p.m.
This will be the second time this season the Pride will compete against the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, losing 53-64 on the road last time out.