Brown powers Pride to sweep over UNC-Wilmington

After their first home conference win in over a year and a half yesterday, the Hofstra Pride women’s basketball team completed the series sweep of the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks by a score of 59-48 on Sunday, Jan. 31 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

The Pride now improves to 6-10 overall on the season and 4-6 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Seahawks suffered their eighth straight loss and are now 3-9 overall and 0-6 in the CAA. 

A 72-59 victory on Saturday saw JaKayla Brown continue her hot streak with 20 points, along with Jaylen Hines dropping 20 of her own. For the Seahawks, Za’Nautica Downs led the team with 23 points and 5 assists. Carol-Anne Obusek also had 18 points and 11 rebounds. 

But Downs was absent from Sunday’s game, leaving a hole in the UNC-Wilmington offense. Nevertheless, the team got off to a hot start. They went on a 12-2 run in the first five minutes, with Mary McMillan knocking down two three-pointers. The Pride bounced back, but the Seahawks ended the first quarter with a 19-13 advantage. 

The second quarter saw a complete shift of momentum. The Pride got the first points of the quarter a little over two minutes in with a Zyheima Swint layup. Swint continued to be a dominant force off the bench for Hofstra. She finished with a team-high 11 rebounds, along with five points. The Pride tied the game at 19 as the Seahawks failed to score for nearly the first seven minutes of the quarter. They finished the half with seven points. After a back and forth to end the quarter, two Jahsyni Knight free throws gave the Pride a 27-26 lead heading into the locker room.

The Seahawks got off to a cold start to begin the third. Knight scored half of her 12 points in the third quarter by hitting two three-pointers – the first of the afternoon for the Pride. DaziaPowell and Taylor Webster provided the scoring for the Seahawks, but the team was once again held to seven points.Hofstra led 39-33 after three quarters of action.

The fourth quarter had the most scoring from both teams. Brown was perfect in the fourth, shooting 5-for-5 from the field with 12 points. She finished with a team-high 22 points with 4 rebounds. Hofstra outscored the Seahawks 20-15 in the quarter and won the game by an 11-point margin. 

“We wanted to make sure that we’re forcing contested shots outside the paint,” said Hofstra head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson. “Every shot they were taking tonight was highly contested … which is great.”

The Pride is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 6 as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Drexel University Dragons.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics