Pride fall to Loyola Maryland in OT Nail Biter

The Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team suffered a tough 62-61 defeat in the last three seconds of overtime against the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Taleah Dixon scored 21 points for Loyola in the contest, going 3-6 from beyond the arc and landing 28% of her field shots. 

Even though the Pride’s Rosi Nicholson scored 17 points, shooting 6-6 from the field, and Zyheima Swint collected a career-high nine rebounds and three blocks, the Pride was unable to secure the victory.

“We came out and had a bit of a slow start and were out of rhythm,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “This team fought and got after it. We were right in the game, but there’s a lot to learn from and next time we’ll be ready.” 

Nicholson opened the first quarter with a mid-range jumper, giving Hofstra a 2-0 lead. The Greyhounds answered with a two-pointer from Lex Therien, making the score even at 2-2. The rest of the quarter remained close. Tied at 10-10, Loyola’s Meliah Van-Otoo made three free throws, giving her team a 13-10 lead. Hofstra’s Brandy Thomas then responded with a two-point jumper, making it 13-12.

With help from Van-Otoo, Dixon hit a jumper to extend Loyola’s lead to 15-12 over Hofstra. Ross-Barnes responded with a jumper from the paint to close the gap to 15-14. Dixon then nailed a 3-pointer from downtown to give Loyola an 18-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

After a jumper by Greyhounds’ Koi Sims, Swint blocked a fierce shot from her in the paint to start the second quarter. Brandy laid one up and in to come within two of Loyola, 18-16. With a three-pointer by Dixon and a mid-range in the paint by Therien, the Greyhounds extended their lead to 27-20.

The Pride cut the seven-point lead with back-to-back 3-pointers to come within one point of Loyola. Hofstra then took the lead 28-27 on a fastbreak by Sorelle Ineza. Despite this, a Loyola 3-pointer from Kelly Ratigan and a layup by Carmina Tanedo ended the first half 32-28 for the Greyhounds. 

In the third, Loyola held the upper hand, never surrendering their lead the entire quarter. The Pride tied the game three times but never gained the lead. With 40 seconds left, Ineza made both free throws to pull within one, 44-43.

With both teams committing fouls, Greyhounds’ Marta Espinal went 1-2 from the line to extend their lead to 45-43. Yet, Nicholson secured the equalizer and made two free throws to end the third 45-45. 

With a back-and-forth game ensuing, both teams were yet again knotted at 50-50 with seven minutes to play. The Greyhounds’ Laura Salmeron made two free throws to win 52-50. 

With the ball in Hofstra’s possession, Sims stole the ball and relayed it to Ratigan in the paint to boost their lead to 54-50. However, another spot-up 3-pointer from Ineza trimmed the lead to one. With a minute remaining, the Pride continued to foul, giving the Greyhounds another shot on the line. 

Loyola’s Bri Rozzi made one of her two attempts, giving the Pride another chance at the game. A defensive rebound by Janaia Fargo and an assist from Thomas set up a crafty layup in the paint for Swint to tie the game at 55-55. The game concluded in a tie and headed to overtime. 

The Greyhounds pounced in the second half and took a quick 3-point lead courtesy of Rozzi. However, the Pride gained the lead off of two free throws from Nicholson in a 59-58 game. With under a minute left, Ally Knights secured two more free throws for the Pride 61-58.

With 18 seconds left, another pair of Rozzi free throws tightened the gap to 61-60. Down to 3.8 seconds, Knights committed yet another foul, giving the Greyhounds a chance to win. Dixon got the two buckets in and claimed the last-second victory over the Pride. 

“It was a tough minute stretch late in overtime,” Santos Atkinson said. 
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics