Pride loses first leg of final regular-season roadtrip

The Hofstra University women’s basketball team lost their fourth consecutive game to the Elon University Phoenix on Thursday, March 7, in their penultimate game of the season 74-62.

The Pride falls to the 13th spot in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play, holding a 9-19 overall record and 3-14 conference record. Elon remains in 10th place, improving to 11-19 overall and 7-10 in CAA play.

Both Hofstra and Elon approached their offenses as a team effort, but the Phoenix were more efficient in terms of scoring, with a 55% shooting rate compared to Hofstra’s 40% in the same category. Every member of Elon who saw court time scored at least two points, and two members of the Phoenix scored in double digits. Iycez Adams scored 20 points and Regina Walton scored 11.

Just like the Phoenix, two members of the Pride also put up at least 10 points. Brooke Anya, who shifted her role from rebounding to scoring for Thursday’s game at Elon, scored 19 points while pulling down three rebounds. Tionna Baker, who continues to give the Pride valuable time from the bench, trailed behind Anya with 10 points.

Holding and maintaining an early lead has been a struggle for Hofstra throughout their CAA run, as the Pride were unable to outscore their opponents after the first quarter in four of their last five games. After Vanessa Taylor made a layup for the Phoenix with around 8 minutes left in the first quarter, the lead disappeared from the Pride. Down 42-32 at the half, the Phoenix’s lead grew exponentially, similar to the leads of Hofstra’s other recent CAA opponents.

Two members of the Pride fouled out in the fourth quarter, each adding four assists to the Pride’s total. Baker, who led Hofstra with eight rebounds, left the game with just over 3 minutes remaining in the game while Ally Knights received three of her fouls in the fourth quarter alone.

Hofstra will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, to play their next and final opponent of their regular season: third-seeded North Carolina A&T State University which is set to begin at 2 p.m on Saturday, March 9.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Rabinovich/Hofstra Chronicle