Brozoski’s career night not enough in tight contest

Lauren ‘Boogie’ Brozoski dropped a career-high 29 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Hofstra women’s basketball team fell to the Towson Tigers 73-72 Friday night in Maryland. 

“[Brozoski] had an outstanding night. So, you just wanted it for them,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. It was the highest scoring game by a Pride player this season.

Sophomore Mikiyah Croskey missed a contested layup with under nine seconds left in the game. 

Sandra Karsten jumped for the rebound and put up a last-second shot, but a controversial missed foul call ended the game with the Pride down one.

“Karsten got fouled. But I can’t cry over spoiled milk,” Kilburn-Steveskey said. 

It was all Towson in the first quarter, as the Tigers led 25-16 after ending the first on a 12-3 run. 

Towson would lead by as many as 13 points in the second, but the Pride ended the first half trailing 43-36. Brozoski finished a perfect 7-7 from the field with 16 points at halftime. 

After halftime, the Pride came out fast with four different scorers, starting the second half with a 10-3 run with 7:04 left in the third. 

The fourth quarter was back and forth with eight lead changes. A three-pointer from Brozoski gave the Pride their first lead of the game at 57-56 with 9:33 to go. 

Hofstra had a 70-65 lead with 2:26 to go in the fourth; however, the Tigers’ Nukiya Mayo and Raine Bankston hit two free throws each to close the gap. 

Mayo would eventually hit the game-winning free throws to make it 73-72. 

For the Tigers, senior forward Mary Cuevas dropped 22 points and added six blocks to lead the Towson scorers. 

Towson’s Mayo dropped 19 points and 12 rebounds and Bankston recorded 12 points and eight rebounds.

Hofstra finished with four players in double figures. Sophomore guards E’Lexus Davis and Karsten finished with 11 points each off the bench. Karsten added seven rebounds as well. Marianne Kalin finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds. 

Croskey finished with just three points and two rebounds after finishing with her first double-double on Sunday against UNCW. 

Towson out-rebounded Hofstra 45-32 and led in steals 11-5. Hofstra had a better field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free-throw percentage than Towson. 

The Pride also outscored the Tigers in the second, third and fourth quarters. 

“We are a tough team ... I’m proud of my group ... this hard work is going to pay off. It just stinks for them right now,” Kilburn-Steveskey said.

Hofstra falls to 4-8 in CAA play and 10-13 overall, while Towson improves to 4-8 in CAA play and 9-14 overall.