Brigham focused on delivering memorable senior season

 Picture courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications
The Hofstra women’s basketball team is off to its first 2-0 start in five years and a big reason for this early-season success has been the leadership and play of senior guard Sam Brigham. The Simsbury, Conn. native, who scored a game-high 19 points in an 88-63 win at St. Francis College (NY) on Wednesday, is focused on making her final season in a Hofstra uniform a memorable one.

After coming off the bench as a freshman on a senior-laden 2006/2007 team, Brigham developed the next two seasons into one of Hofstra’s most reliable offensive and defensive players leading the Pride in scoring as a sophomore and shooting a team-high 36 percent from three-point range last year. Against St. Francis Brigham showed how much of a complete player she is going three of four from the floor, 12-15 from the foul line while also pulling down five rebounds and posting one steal. 

Fourth-year Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey has been happy with Brigham’s leadership in the backcourt as well as how she has guided the younger players on and off the floor. “She’s been a kid that has earned her spot every single year,” said Kilburn-Steveskey. “She is just a competitor through and through and that toughness on the floor is contagious.”


After Hofstra’s home opener against Albany on Nov. 25, the Pride will heads to Brigham’s home state to take on defending national champion and number-one ranked Connecticut the day after Thanksgiving. Brigham is eagerly awaiting the Nov. 27 game at Gampel Pavilion and is expecting many family and friends from the Constitution State to be there rooting her on. “Growing up I was a big UConn fan and to be playing them my senior year when they are ranked number one after winning the national championship is pretty nice,” said Brigham.

Brigham’s college basketball journey  has been one of ups and downs from being apart of a 26-8 team as a freshman where Hofstra advanced to the third round of the WNIT, a 5-25 sophomore campaign followed by a vastly improved 16-14 season last year. For her senior season Brigham's main goal is to see Hofstra win a Colonial Athletic Association title and bring the program its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

“It’s sad to say it’s my last season but I definitely want to make it a good one,” she said.