By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR
The Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team opened up 2016 with their first conference play matchup at the Mack Sports Complex and the Pride defeated the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 58-49 on Sunday afternoon.
Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey earned her 163rd win at the helm with the Pride. She broke the previous record of 162 career wins from former head coach Harvey Pyser to be on top of the all-wins list.
“First conference test today and it was just nice to get a win against a nemesis that we fight against all the time,” Kilburn-Steveskey said after the win. “It was awesome [achieving the all-time wins record]. It was really nice, nice to share it with this team who’s been a part of a lot of wins here and hopefully many more.”
Kelly Loftus, Ashunae Durant and Krystal Luciano scored 13 points apiece to keep the game in the Pride’s hands. Anjie White, Durant and Luciano each grabbed seven rebounds.
Hofstra’s performance against Delaware was a mixed bag of good and bad stretches.
Despite the early 3-0 lead and the Pride’s defense limited the deficit to a reasonable margin, Hofstra just couldn’t execute. Hofstra’s offense started out abysmal, shooting 1-for-12, the one shot made was a three by Luciano.
Delaware took a 7-3 halfway through the first quarter but that ended up being their largest lead of the game.
Yet, the Pride’s defense played aggressive in a manner that greatly helped when their offense struggled in the opening minutes. The Pride forced six turnovers in the first 10 minutes and 10 turnovers altogether in the first half.
The Pride finished the first quarter with an 8-2 streak and led 10-9 going into the second quarter. Plus, Hofstra continued their rally with a 5-0 stretch shortly after.
Hofstra expanded their lead through forcing turnovers and producing fast-break opportunities which propelled their lead into the double digits, 31-21, at halftime.
The Pride scored 8-2 off both turnovers and fast breaks in the first 20 minutes. Hofstra also took advantage of multiple opportunities outscoring Delaware 9-5 off second chances. Hofstra’s bench, Asia Jackson and Jakelle King-Gilchrist, outperformed the Fightin’ Blue Hens’ bench 9-2.
The third quarter hosted the highest point of Hofstra’s success as well as their worst stretch which they struggled mightily.
After going 0-for-3 from the arc, Kelly Loftus pulled a six-point swing with back-to-back threes in less than a minute pushed Hofstra’s lead forward to a 16-point difference.
Loftus’ quick contribution gave the Pride their largest lead of the night but it wouldn’t last for long. The Fightin’ Blue Hens stole the show for nearly the rest of the third quarter with a 15-2 streak that put themselves back into contention.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens killed the Pride in the paint 12-2 and Hofstra went 1-for-10 throughout the rest of the third period. Durant was the only other player that posted any points besides Loftus. Anjie White’s third personal foul in the midst of the period and Luciano’s third foul limited their playing time.
With three seconds left in the third period, Loftus fended off the Delaware rally with back-to-back free throws to make it a five-point game.
Everything came down to the fourth quarter and Hofstra’s Luciano and Durant carried the team, compiling 13 points to put the game out of reach for the Fightin’ Blue Hens. The Pride utilized second chances (7-0) and production off turnovers (7-4) to keep Delaware at bay at the end.
19 total turnovers by Delaware put the game in Hofstra’s hands. The Pride pulled off the win by outperforming the Fightin’ Blue Hens in second chances 19-9 and off bench points 12-6.
Hofstra improved to 10-2 overall and 1-0 in CAA action while Delaware dropped to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
The Pride will travel down to North Carolina to battle the Elon Phoenix. Tipoff is this Thursday on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m.