JMU women's basketball gets the best of the Pride in 59-44 defeat
The struggles of the Hofstra women’s basketball team continued on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 10, when the Dukes of James Madison University (JMU) came to Long Island and defeated the Pride by a score of 59-44.
This was the fourth loss in a row for the Pride, as their record slid to 7-16. They are now 1-10 since starting Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
Boogie Brozoski, who scored 17 points and went 2-for-7 from beyond the arc, led the team. She also garnered four rebounds and two assists while on the court for 37 minutes.
The only other member of the Pride to score in double figures was Sica Cuzic. Cuzic scored 14 points, shooting 5-for-11 and grabbing six rebounds.
Marianne Kalin led the Pride in rebounding with eight boards in 29 minutes. She tied JMU’s Logan Reynolds to lead the game in that category as well, on top of her seven points on 3-for-5 shooting.
It was an off night for Ana Hernandez Gil, who scored just one point despite having taken nine shots in the game. She went 0-for-7 from three and committed four turnovers. However, her five rebounds helped the team keep up with the Dukes’ efforts.
Turnovers proved costly for the Pride, as they committed 18 during the game, many of which led directly to points for JMU. The Dukes scored 22 points off turnovers, which was largely how they maintained their lead for the duration of the contest.
“We got hurt today with a lot of turnovers,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey. “They scored 22 points off our turnovers and we only got four. I mean, there’s your game.”
Both teams struggled offensively through the first two quarters, with JMU just barely outplaying the Pride as they went 10-for-33 and 2-for-11 from three, while Hofstra went 7-for-26 and just 1-for-9 as they went into halftime down by seven. The game was decided in the third quarter, however, when the Pride’s defense slipped as they allowed the Dukes to shoot 8-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, giving the Dukes a 13 point lead going into the final quarter.
Some of the blame for the Pride’s lackluster third quarter can be attributed to the disastrous injury to Vanerlie Valcourt which occurred then. With less than half of the third remaining, Valcourt grabbed a defensive rebound and rushed up the court in transition, where she ran into JMU’s Aneah Young in the paint. Valcourt was fouled and both players went down after the hit, but Valcourt fell hard and had to be assisted off the court by medical personnel.
The Pride will have a chance to change their fortune when they head to Philadelphia to take on Drexel University on Friday, Feb. 15.
“We’re not happy with where we are, but what I like about this team right now – how it’s way different from last year – is how everyone is still working to get better,” Kilburn-Steveskey said. “They’re still responding, and those shots are eventually gonna fall.”
