Hofstra women's basketball falls in close contest to Iona

A 59-54 loss at the hands of the Iona University Gaels was the Hofstra University women’s basketball team’s second loss in their three-game home stretch on Thursday, Dec. 7.

 “[It was a] tough one for us. I thought there were so many things that we should have been able to control that we allowed slip away tonight,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson.

 Zyheima Swint excelled in the contest, putting up a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.

 “I keep saying that [Swint} can average a double-double whenever she wants to,” Santos said. “She’s doing a great job of being aggressive and crashing [the boards] every single time; people are sending double [teams] because of the impact and production she’s had.”

 Of Hofstra’s 11 first-quarter points, Swint poured in six of them. Sophomore guard Emma Von Essen had sniper-like shooting, going 3-7 from the 3-point line and 4-10 overall.

 There were uncharacteristic performances throughout the night from graduate guard Sorelle Ineza and facilitator Ally Knights, as Ineza was held down 0-7 while Knights had two 3-pointers as part of her eight-point evening.

 “I thought [Ineza] had some good shots, she just didn’t hit,” Santos said. “As I’ve been saying, [Ineza]’s a great player … she’s gotta get herself going, and we’re going to make sure that happens. [Knights] played with a lot of confidence … she does a great job of getting other players involved and finding them and putting them in a position to be successful. We need her to continue to find her opportunities as well because it puts pressure on the defense and helps in our overall offensive production.”

 Overall, it was the defense that allowed Iona to walk away with the win, as the Pride could not contain the Gaels and their nine made shots from behind the arc.

 “We allowed them nine [3-pointers]; when you give a team that many threes, it’s very hard to battle back and maintain a good position in the game,” Santos said. “They shot at 44%; that’s way too high for our goals defensively. There’s an intensity we have to have, a focus we have to have mentally to be able to follow the game plan and have everyone on the same page [on] every single possession.”

 At .500, the team looks to right the ship with over a week of rest, recovery and redirection before they face Farmingdale State College on Saturday, Dec. 16.

 “We need some recovery, but we got to get ourselves back to the team we know we’re capable of being,” Santos said. “We’ve got to be able to put a complete 40-minute game together; we’ve got to be all on the same page and we got to have great intensity when we are out there on the floor. We’ve got to clean up these mental lapses defensively and, offensively, get ourselves to a point where we are executing more fluidly and with a lot more rhythm.”

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Evan Bernstein