UAlbany WBB Victim of Hofstra Three-Point Shooting, Falls 65-55
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ALBANY, N.Y. – Despite 22 points from Shereesha Richards, the UAlbany women's basketball team fell to Hofstra 65-55, with the Pride hitting 11-18 for three, on Tuesday night at the SEFCU Arena.
“We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” said UAlbany coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson. “[Hofstra] has a lot of upperclassmen, and they had a halfcourt press that worked well.”
Richards, who was honored with a pregame ceremony for joining the 1,000-point club, went 9-13 from the field for UAlbany (3-2) with a team-high 22 points and eight rebounds. Margarita Rosario was 4-6 on field goals, scoring 10 points and four assists.
For Hofstra (4-3), Kelly Loftus went 7-9 from beyond the arc, finishing with 25 points and three steals. Elo Edeferioka scored 12 points and grabbing six rebounds.
UAlbany kept Hofstra at bay in the early going, holding the Pride without a basket in the opening 6:05. Rosario hit a jumper in the opening possession, with Richards and Sarah Royals adding baskets to push UAlbany ahead 7-2.
The visitors started getting looks for three on the elbow. UAlbany kept its focus on the paint, with Tiana-Jo Carter hitting the putback and one. Kelly Loftus and Asia Jackson hit threes, helping the team put together a 13-0 run to go up 21-12 with 5:03 left in the 1st.
The teams went back and forth the rest of the half, with Richards hitting shots and Hofstra continuing to fire away from three. With Richards, Royals and Jessica Fequiere scoring towards the end of the period, UAlbany got to within five, but a Jackson three made it 30-22 at the break.
Loftus kept hitting threes going into the second half, extending Hofstra's lead to 11 five minutes in at 39-28. Tate hit a layup to halt the Hofstra run as UAlbany held its opponent without points for the next three minutes, but a Edeferioka layup and one made it 42-30 Pride with 12:52 left to play.
Richards hit a pair of layups in a row to pull UAlbany within single digits and the teams went back-and-forth, with Hofstra going back ahead by double digits, then UAlbany pulling back to under 10 again. The Pride led 61-48 with 2:38 left to play.
UAlbany made a final push, with a Rosario three and a Richards layup pulling UAlbany back within eight with under two minutes to play. That is as close as UAlbany got as a late 4-0 Hofstra run sealed the game for the Pride 65-55.
The Great Danes will begin a six-game road swing, taking on Colgate on Saturday, December 6th at 4 p.m. in Hamilton.
