Hofstra women's basketball looks to rebound after three heartbreaking losses

The Hofstra women’s basketball team is all in all having a very successful 2010/11 season so far with an 8-4 record, but three straight tight heart-wrenching losses on the road in the past week create extra importance for Thursday’s Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener against Towson.

After winning eight straight following a season-opening loss to Virginia, Hofstra dropped back-to-back two point losses to San Diego and Cincinnati at the Maggie Dixon Surf ‘N Slam Classic and then lost a 16 point second half lead in a 71-66 defeat at Delaware in the CAA opener Sunday. Despite the three stinging defeats that occurred with some players sick and in the midst of constant travel, the Pride are in positive spirits heading into Thursday, according to head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey.

"We just hit a bit of a bump in the road and faced some adversity and we just have to re-group as a whole” said Coach Kilburn-Steveskey. “They know that we are doing some good things and we just have to put it all together.”

Hofstra women's basketball enhances chance at CAA tourney bye with win over Northeastern

When Hofstra women’s basketball seniors Sam Brigham and Jess Fuller were taken out in the final moments of Sunday afternoon’s game against Northeastern both showed signs of emotions knowing they had just finished their last regular season home contest. However their heralded Hofstra careers are far from over as the Pride’s 53-37 win over the Huskies keeps them very much alive for a top four Colonial Athletic Association finish that would earn a first round bye at the conference tournament that gets underway March 11.

Hofstra’s 53-37 win over Northeastern before 622 fans at the Mack Sports Complex puts the Pride (18-11, 11-6 in CAA) into a three-way tie for third place in the conference standings with Virginia Commonwealth and Drexel. Hofstra closes out the regular season this Wednesday evening at Delaware(18-10, 10-7 in CAA), who is just one game behind the Pride, and the winner of this game may very well end up with that all-important first round bye.

Hofstra women's basketball wins close battle over George Mason

      On paper Thursday afternoon's Hofstra-George Mason women's basketball game looked like a mismatch after the Pride defeated the Patriots 72-39 in Fairfax, Va. just two weeks ago. However the last place team in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) gave Hofstra all they could handle before the Pride pulled away in the end for a 59-49 win in front of 1,016 fans during "Family Fun Day" at the Mack Sports Complex.
      Despite the Pride (15-11, 8-6 in CAA) having blown out George Mason on Feb. 4, Hofstra women's basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey was not surprised that the result was much closer the second time around since the Patriots did not have starting point guard Brittany Poindexter in the first meeting. "Knowing that Brittany Poindexter did not play [in the first meeting] .... we knew had a pretty big task at hand," said Kilburn-Steveskey. "This team was a different team than we played last time."

Hofstra women's basketball steps up after Fuller injury in win over UNC-Wilmington

Just over five minutes into Super Bowl Sunday’s Hofstra-UNC Wilmington women’s basketball game Pride head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey raced across the court toward the direction of senior center Jess Fuller, who lay on the floor grimacing with pain. Fuller was helped off the court by the training staff and suddenly Hofstra was left without its tallest payer , who just one game ago became the program’s all-time leader in blocked shots.

With Fuller missing the Pride stepped up their games in a 73-58 win to give Hofstra (13-10, 6-5 in Colonial Athletic Association) its third win in four games. The 6'4 Fuller has a severally sprained ankle and her status for the remainder of the season is uncertain.

“I saw their eyes a little bit when she went down so that is why I ran out there so quick, “said Coach Kilburn-Steveskey of her initial worries that Fuller’s injury would cause the rest of the team to panic. “All she was caring about was us getting that [win] and I think we rallied around that situation.”

Stepping up large in Fuller’s absence were freshman forward Shante Evans with 28 points and senior guard Sam Brigham, who tallied 16 on 6-9 shooting. Sophomore guard Nicole Capurso was also in double figures with 12 points on four three pointers. Red-shirt sophomore had a solid all-around game with nine points and nine assists.

“We just picked each other up,” said Brigham of how the Pride responded once Fuller went down. “I feel like we really stepped up as a team.”

Hofstra will try and continue its recent momentum with a home game against first place Virginia Commonwealth this Thursday with a special Noon tipoff in honor of “Family Fun Day.”

Too much Delle Donne in Hofstra women's basketball loss to Delaware

Elena Delle Donne entered Sunday afternoon’s game with Hofstra as women’s college basketball’s fourth leading scorer and her versatile offensive skills were on full display for the 1,388 fans at the Mack Sports Complex. The 6’5 freshman sensation, who initially committed to national powerhouse Connecticut as the number one recruit in the country, scored 35 points including clutch back-to-back three pointers in the second half that paced the Blue Hens to a 71-65 win over the Pride.
 
“We were a little star struck for some reason,” said Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey of how she felt her team responded to going up against someone of Delle Donne’s caliber.
 
With the loss to Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware, the Pride drop into a three-way tie with William & Mary and Towson for sixth place in the conference standings.   

Hofstra women's basketball offense wakes up in win over William & Mary

For the first 10:32 of Thursday night’s Hofstra-William & Mary women’s basketball game the Pride were shooting under 20 percent and only had six points but luckily for the Pride the visiting Tribe's shooting was not much better. After being able to withstand some early offensive woes, Hofstra found its shooting touch the remainder of the game to post a 68-51 victory for its third win in four games.

Thursday night’s win by Hofstra (10-8, 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association)  avenges a 55-48 loss at William & Mary 18 days ago in the conference opener where the Pride let a six point lead with 6:39 left slip away. In the rematch with the Tribe, Hofstra had three players in double-figures led by freshman power forward Shante Evans, who had her ninth career double-double with 18 points on 9-12 shooting and 18 rebounds. “

“[Evans] is just relentless,” said Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey, who notched her 57th career victory Thursday to move into third place in the program’s all-time wins list in just her fourth season. “She is a special player because of so many attributes.”

Hofstra women's basketball picks up first CAA win with triumpth of Georgia State

Being in the midst of a four-game losing streak and facing the prospect of an 0-3 conference start, the Hofstra women’s basketball team came into its Jan. 10th home game against Georgia State with a sense of urgency and it showed on defense. After quickly falling behind 5-0 the Pride held the Panthers to only four field goals the remainder of the first half.

Hofstra’s ability to hold Georgia State’s offense at bay with only 30 percent shooting for the game helped the Pride (8-7, 1-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association) pick up a critical 58-49 win to avoid that dreaded 0-3 conference start.

“We’ve weathered a nice tornado, tsunami and we’re getting out of [the storm],” said Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn- Steveskey of the Pride snapping its five-game losing streak.

Hofstra women's basketball sees perfect home record end in loss to Towson

Following three tough road losses in Texas and Southern Virginia the Hofstra women’s basketball team returned the friendly confines of the Mack Sports Complex for Thursday night’s Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) home opener against Towson. However despite the Pride coming into the game with a perfect 5-0 record in Hempstead, Hofstra’s home court proved much friendlier to Towson with the Tigers jumping out to an 18-point halftime lead and holding on for a 66-58 win.

Hofstra (7-7, 0-2 in CAA) dug itself a huge early hole thanks to a first half performance that included shooting 21 percent and committing 10 turnovers. Towson meanwhile shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half including five of eight from three-point range. Towson led by as many as 21 in the second half.

After defeating Stony Brook on Dec. 21 Hofstra has dropped four in a row including road defeats to Southern Methodist, Rice and William & Mary.

Hofstra women's basketball wins Battle of Long Island over Stony Brook

It was fitting that congestion played a role in Monday night’s Battle of Long Island between the region’s two Division I college women’s basketball programs, Hofstra and Stony Brook. Stony Brook got stuck in a massive traffic jam during its 37 mile trip to Hempstead and did not arrive to the Mack Sports Complex until just moments before the game's 7 p.m. scheduled tip-off.  

The game ended up starting 45 minutes late and Stony Brook’s offense was also tardy putting up only six points in the game’s first 11 minutes enabling Hofstra to build a 21-6 lead. The Pride then held off a late Seawolve rally for a 67-61 victory to improve to 7-3 before a trip to Texas after Christmas to face Southern Methodist and Rice.

Despite the win before 321 fans at the Mack Sports Complex on a frigid first official day of winter, Hofstra head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey was frustrated in the post-game press conference that her team let Stony Brook hang around late in the game after building a large lead.

“The shots that were taken down that stretch, that is not my team,” said Kilburn-Steveskey. “We need to have a voice on the floor, that is really what is missing.”

Hofstra women's basketball freshman playing like a veteran

Courtesy Hofstra Athletic Communications

Not even a broken nose suffered against number-one ranked Connecticut on Nov. 27 could slow down freshman Shante Evans’s quick adjustment from playing girl’s high school basketball in suburban Philadelphia to Division I women’s college hoops. Since the pain she incurred at UConn, the 6’0 forward has pressed ahead with her stellar inside play despite having to wear a mask and through Hofstra’s first nine games leads the Pride in scoring and rebounding.

Thanks to the effort Evans has given in the paint, the Pride are off to a 6-3 start heading into its next game at home versus Stony Brook on Monday night at 7 p.m. In Hofstra’s last game at Manhattan a week ago, Evans scored a career high 22 points along with 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of her young career to help lead the Pride to a 73-65 win.

"She’s the kind of the kid that is so unselfish but yet really competitive and has a lot of goals but she doesn’t let anything get to her head,” said Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey of her star freshman, who is averaging 11.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. “She has the total package.”

Hofstra women’s basketball ramps up intensity to prep for Providence

During back-to-back heartbreaking one-point losses to Clemson and Richmond last weekend in Storrs, Conn., the Hofstra women’s basketball team held late leads but was not able to finish. Much of the theme during this morning’s intense three hour practice at the Mack Sports Complex was preaching how to execute in late-game pressure situations as the Pride get set to end a nine-day layoff with a home game against Providence this Tuesday night.

“Today was a game-like practice,” said Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kliburn-Steveskey adding that each drill this week has been at a high intensity level. “We haven’t written in one practice plan that started off soft.”

After Hofstra (3-3) fell in the final seconds to Richmond 42-41 Sunday afternoon, Kilburn-Steveskey gave her team the next two days to heal mentally and physically as the Pride had just played four games in five days. However once practice resumed on Wednesday she ramped up the intensity to get her players fully prepared for a Big East Conference opponent.

Hofstra women's basketball with little time to enjoy first 3-0 start in 12 years

In an appetizer to an upcoming grueling Thanksgiving weekend schedule, the Hofstra women’s basketball team won a rare mid-week matinee with Albany today 62-49 for the program’s first 3-0 start in a dozen years. Hofstra will not have much time to savor today’s victory though as in just two days the Pride will be at Gampel Pavilion taking on defending national champion Connecticut in the first of three games at the WBCA Classic.

Late tomorrow morning while most people are getting set to enjoy their Thanksgiving meals, the Hofstra will be boarding a bus for Storrs, Conn., where the Pride will spend the next three days taking on the number-one ranked Huskies, Clemson and Richmond. Despite posting a relatively easy win over Albany today, head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey said in the post-game press conference that the Pride will have to perform far better this weekend to come out of Gampel Pavilion with any success.

Geographically diverse recruiting class brings promising future for Hofstra women’s basketball

Hofstra women’s basketball head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey never imagined she would recruit someone from Idaho for her fall 2010 recruiting class, but after witnessing the tenacity displayed by Kate Loper during an AAU tournament in the nation's capital, focus quickly shifted to this "gem" from the Gem State. Loper is one of three Hofstra women’s basketball recruits for the 2010/20011 season that Kilburn-Steveskey announced last week, with the trio hailing from a wide cross section of the country that includes the Mountain West, Deep South and South Jersey.

While the 2009/2010 season has just gotten underway, Kilburn-Steveskey is excited about the intangibles that will come from next year’s freshman class that includes Loper (Post Falls, Id.), Ngwanma (Amma) Onyeuku (Fayetteville, Ga.) and Annie Payton (Camden, N.J.). All three players were recruited by major women’s college basketball programs and will have large shoes to fill next year after seniors Sam Brigham and Jess Fuller graduate from Hofstra.

Kilburn-Steveskey actually stumbled upon Loper by accident while she was scouting another player competing in a Washington D.C. AAU tournament. In the last 2:45 of a hotly contested game while the player Kilburn-Steveskey was looking at subbed herself out, Loper stepped up big for the Spokane Stars Girls AAU Basketball Club with a three pointer, two-point field goal and a pair of clutch free throws. “I was going 'wow, this kid is a competitor,” said Kilburn-Steveskey of Loper, who she sees similarities with Brigham in terms of toughness, vocal leadership, three-point range and a quick shooting release.

Hofstra women’s basketball eager for Monday’s season opener

With nearly a month of practices under their belt and scrimmages against each other, the Hofstra women’s basketball team is more than ready for its 2009/2010 regular season to get underway this Monday evening at home against Buffalo. The Nov. 16 opener launches a highly competitive 30-game schedule and with three of five starters returning, head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey is optimistic that success will come the Pride’s way in 2009/2010.

“After 27 practices you are ready to bang on someone else,” said Coach Kilburn-Steveskey of the excitement of her players to start competing against other teams. “We’re ready to get it rolling.”

Last season Hofstra won at Buffalo 80-73 in overtime with then freshman Joelle Connelly scoring a tying bucket at the buzzer. Coach Kilburn-Steveskey expects another barn burner this season with Buffalo returning its core nucleus including Kourtney Brown, who scored 29 points against Hofstra in the Dec. 6, 2008 match-up.

“It is going to be an up-tempo game and it’s going to be a battle,” said Kilburn-Steveskey. “It’s going to be a good test early for the first game.”

Hofstra women's basketball pre-season practice update

With two and a half weeks until the Hofstra women’s basketball team jump starts its 2009/2010 season at home against Buffalo, head coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey has a good problem on her hands trying to determine the best starting lineup to use since so many players have been stepping up to the challenge in pre-season practices.

“Can I start more than five,” joked Coach Kilburn-Steveskey after this morning’s two-hour practice of how it will be tough to decide who begins each game and who comes off the bench.

The main reason behind the uncertainty of who will comprise Hofstra’s starting lineup when the season tips off against Buffalo on Nov. 16 is the stellar play of freshman forward Shante Evans, who was ranked 54th best player in the class of 2009 and the ninth-best forward by ESPN/HoopGurlz. While Evans is used to playing the power forward position, Coach Kilburn-Steveskey is contemplating slotting the 6-0 West Chester, Pa. native in as a small forward to bolster the inside game for senior center Jess Fuller and 6’3 sophomore Joelle Connelly. Whether it is starting or coming off the bench as the sixth man, Evans will be a major focal point of the Pride offense. 

A freshman stepping up large on the defensive end has been guard Candace Bond. Kilburn-Steveskey noted that the 5’10 Bond has been playing hard-nosed defense in practice against veteran senior guard Sam Brigham, which will serve as positive preparation for both players in 2009/2010. “Candace Bond is going to probably be one of the best defenders that ever came through here,” said Kilburn-Steveskey “She is not backing down.”

Evans and Bond were apart of a recruiting class that ranked 41st in the nation by ESPN/HoopGurlz. However the third member of that heralded recruiting class Lindsey Watson, an Orlando, Fla. native, has left the team for personal reasons.