The Hofstra University women’s basketball team continued to struggle with turnovers as they fell to the James Madison University (JMU) Dukes in a final score of 77-54, on Friday evening, Jan. 11, at the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Pride is currently 6-9, and 0-3 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
“It was a hard fight. [JMU head coach] Sean [O’Regan] had his team ready as usual, playing strong. We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” said Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey.
Hofstra was led by senior guard Boogie Brozoski with 22 points, matching her season record, followed by freshman Jakayla Brown with seven points. Sophomore forward Jaylen Hines closely followed with six points, while also recording a season-high 10 rebounds.
“Especially with a little bit of injuries [of key players] right now ... it was nice to give the young kids an opportunity to battle, and they did,” Kilburn-Steveskey said about Brown’s and Hines’ contributions to the team.
Junior guard Sandra Karsten also contributed six points to the Pride through two three-point shots late in the game.
“I’m proud of many of them, but [Karsten] definitely had some growth and development, and had some battles with JMU,” Kilburn-Steveskey said. “I thought her toughness showed through today.”
JMU was led by Kamiah Smalls with 22 points, shooting almost 70 percent from the field (9-13 FG) and three of four shots from three-point range. Teammates Jackie Benitez and Kayla Cooper-Williams followed in scoring, with 10 and nine points respectively.
Despite a strong defense for the Pride in the first five minutes, in which they caused five turnovers for the Dukes, the Pride quickly fell behind in the first half, ending the first quarter with a score of 17-12.
The second quarter was the downfall for Hofstra as turnovers resulted in a 23-5 Duke dominance and saw a 13-0 scoring run from the Dukes as they shutout Hofstra from scoring for nearly eight minutes.
Well-rested and ready to fight after halftime, the Pride attempted to close the point gap with an additional 37 points, including an 11-0 run that put them within 19 points of the Dukes. But it proved not enough as JMU scored an additional 37 points as well and concluded the game with a 22-point lead.
Hofstra ended the game with 22 turnovers, which the Dukes used to score 32 points. A much smaller 13 Hofstra points were the result of the 18 turnovers by the Dukes.
“[Their turnovers] were mostly going out of bounds, [or] dead ball, and we weren’t capitalizing ... They were knocking them down and then they crushed us in that category,” Kilburn-Steveskey said.
The Pride continue their road trip to take on the Towson University Tigers on Sunday, Jan.13, at 2 p.m. at the SECU Arena.
“It’s going to be physical. It’s probably going to be one of the most physical games I think we’ve played since Wright State,”Kilburn-Steveskey said.
This article was originally published on www.thehofstrachronicle.com.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
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