By Frank Aimetti - STAFF WRITER
Ashunae Durant’s 12 points and six rebounds proved to be the difference for Hofstra (18-9, 11-5 CAA) against No. 23 James Madison (23-3, 14-1 CAA). After the first meeting, which Durant missed, when a monstrous Pride rally fell just short, the Pride was on the opposite end today, just barely staving off a James Madison rally.
The Pride clearly missed their star freshman in the first matchup of these two teams and her strong play in this matchup, especially late, helped tip the scales in favor of the Pride. This Pride win was truly a team effort, however, with four scorers in double-digits, and all within four points of each other. As a collective unit, the defense took over several stretches of the game and in the end, proved to be the difference between James Madison and Hofstra.
“You’re gonna win championships when you got five or six players in double-figures, so that’s what we preach,” said head coach Kilburn-Steveskey. “I’ll take 30 [points] if somebody’s got a hot hand and you can have the rest of the team in double-figures after that, but you’re gonna win championships when you’re deep like that.”
The game certainly didn’t open as Hofstra may have wished as they were brutalized early inside against the strength and finesse of the James Madison bigs. The Pride defense was able to adjust though, with the strong post defense of Elo Edeferioka and Anjie White, among others, proving to be a huge factor in the win.
As the defense began to clamp down, it was all Hofstra from that point on. James Madison’s last lead, in the entire game, came with 10:47 left in the first half. A 17-4 Hofstra run allowed the Pride to seize control of the game and quiet, at least for the moment, the raucous home crowd.
Every time the Dukes tried to push their way back into the game, Hofstra responded with a run of their own to keep them at bay. Going into halftime with a 38-32 lead, it seemed like it couldn’t be going any better for Hofstra.
That is, until the second half began, and the Pride emerged energized and ready to go. What started off as a six-point lead quickly ballooned into a 15-point lead only four minutes into the second half. No amount of JMU timeouts was able to stop the bleeding and the Dukes, if only briefly, seemed to lose composure.
The Hofstra lead peaked at 17 with 12:43 to go. A James Madison rally was inevitable, however, and it came on fast and strong. The James Madison defense appeared to dial in as the second half wore on, eventually turning the tables on the once-thriving Pride offense. In only six minutes, the Dukes were able to slice the Hofstra lead down to five with 6:20 to go.
When asked about what she told her team as the lead was disappearing, Coach Kilburn-Steveskey simply told them to calm down.
“I just told them to calm down, they were getting a little bit emotional with some of the things that were happening out there and things that weren’t going their way, and you know, that was the worst thing we could do, to lose our head,” said Coach Kilburn-Steveskey.
Turnovers were the main culprit for the quickly evaporating lead as James Madison’s full-court press seemed to fluster the Pride ball handlers. Attempts to split double and triple-teams failed, instead leading to James Madison buckets in transition. The Dukes finally equalized the game at 59 with one minute to go after the Pride offense experienced several near misses on the offensive end.
On the next possession, Anjie White drew contact inside and sunk two big free throws to give Hofstra a two-point lead with 40 seconds to go. After a Pride stop on defense, a critical turnover by Kelly Loftus in the backcourt gave James Madison new life, and a chance to steal back the game from the Pride.
James Madison had their chance to tie the game at the line, but hit only one-of-two from the free-throw line. Forced to play the foul game from that point on, Ashunae Durant did her part, drilling two clutch free throws to seal the game before a meaningless put-back as time expired narrowed the gap to one.
The Pride victory ended James Madison’s 21-game home winning streak and 14-game winning streak overall. This also served as the Dukes first CAA loss of the season. For the Pride, it served as only their second win against a nationally ranked opponent in program history.
The Pride face off against the Elon Phoenix at the Mack Center on March 1.