Hofstra Downs UVA to Advance to WNIT Quarters
BOX SCORE
Hempstead, N.Y. (March 22, 2016) - Sophomore
Aleana Leon scored a career-high 15 points and Hofstra pulled away in the fourth period to post a 65-57 victory over Virginia in the third round of the Women's NIT at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
The win sends the Pride (25-8) to the WNIT quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 where they will face either the winner of tomorrow’s Tulane-Florida Gulf Coast game on the road. Hofstra is the first CAA team to advance to the quarterfinals since 2013 when both James Madison and Drexel made an appearance. The Dragons went on to win the 2013 WNIT Championship.
Leon shot 7-for-10 from the floor and added five rebounds.
Anjie White posted her fifth double-double of the season for the Pride with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The first period featured four tie scores. Virginia had lead by as many as six, 16-10, with 2:46 remaining. But Hofstra closed with a 13-0 run to take a 23-16 lead after one.
Jakelle King-Gilchrist had six points in the run while White added three points. The Cavaliers missed two shots and had three turnovers during the Pride's run.
Virginia opened the second period by scoring the first five points over 5:20 to cut the deficit to two, 23-21. But
Asia Jackson ended the Pride's scoring drought with a three-pointer with 4:40 on the clock to push the lead back up to five, 26-21. The Cavaliers would go on a 6-0 run after that basket to take a 27-26 lead with 2:01 remaining on a pair of free throws from Lauren Moses. But
Kelly Loftus put the Pride back on top, 29-27, 31 seconds later with a three-pointer and Hofstra would take a 31-28 lead into halftime.
Hofstra came out of the gates quickly in the third, scoring the first seven points to open a 38-28 lead with 8:21 to go and force Virginia to call a timeout. The Cavaliers came out of the timeout and went on a 10-2 run to get within two, 40-38, with 5:29 to go on a layup from Breyana Mason. But the Pride responded with five straight points to go back up by seven, 45-38, following a steal by White that led to a three-point play from
Darius Faulk with 4:22 left to play in the period. The run would extend to seven before Faith Randolph scored four straight points for Virginia five-point advantage for the Pride, 47-42, with 1:52 remaining. Virginia would score one more time and trailed by three, 47-44, going into the fourth period.
Virginia outscored the Pride to start the fourth period to tie the score at 51 on a basket from Moses with 6:14 remaining. But Leon had a personal 4-0 run to give the Pride a 55-51 lead with 4:51 to play. After a Virginia bucket, the Pride would go on a 6-0 run to take a 61-53 lead with 2:33 to play on a jumper from White. The Cavaliers would not get closer than six the rest of the way.
King-Gilchrist and Faulk finished the night with nine points each for the Pride. In addition to her scoring and rebounding, White also did a good job of passing from the post as she tallied a career-best five assists. She also added four steals.