William & Mary Takes Down Hofstra in Second Round of 2025 Credit Union 1 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship
Ben Kane
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Washington D.C. (Mar. 13, 2025) – Twenty-one third-quarter points lifted No. 9 William & Mary past No. 8 Hofstra 76-65 in the second round of the Credit Union 1 CAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Thursday afternoon at CareFirst Arena in Washington D.C.
The Tribe’s leading scorer, Bella Nascimento, was at it again tallying a squad-best 17 points in the victory. As a whole, William & Mary was active from deep with nine three-pointers, and scoring on a 44.8% clip from the field. The Tribe also forced 17 Pride turnovers, while committing only eight.
Alarice Gooden was efficient for Hofstra scoring 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the floor, and going 3 for 4 from deep. Hofstra shot the ball well from behind the arc, knocking down 52.9% of its 17 attempts.
Kayla Rolph started the game in red-hot form from deep, posting six of the Tribe’s first eight points. The Pride didn’t let this ruin their start to the game, as four players found the scoresheet to restrict William & Mary’s advantage to one possession heading into the first media timeout. The Tribe kicked it up a notch, posting an 8-4 run to close out the first and go up 18-12.
William & Mary held a narrow 36-33 lead heading into halftime; however, it extended its advantage to eight within the first five minutes of the third quarter. Natalie Fox’s and-one layup jumpstarted the run, with Bella Nascimento draining the next two jumpers to put Erin Dickerson Davis’ side up 48-40.
The Tribe extended its advantage to 11 at the end of the third quarter thanks largely to an efficient quarter from behind the arc. Monet Dance, Rolph, and Rebekah Frisby-Smith all notched a 3-pointer, contributing to William and Mary’s .368 shooting clip up to that point in the game.
The Tribe found themselves up by as much as 18 in the fourth quarter, however, Jania Fargo and Gooden didn’t let up for Hofstra draining three-straight treys to bring the Pride within eight. Swint made a contested layup to pull Hofstra within nine with 41.4 on the clock, but William & Mary was able to close out the game with a perfect trip to the line from Dance.
Along with Nascimento, Dance finished with 12 points and Rolph added 11 for W&M. Joining Gooden in double digits for Hofstra were Emma Von Essen (13 points), Janaia Fargo (11 points) and LaNae’ Corbett (10 points).
William & Mary advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2023 and will take on No.1 North Carolina A&T at 12 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 14 from CareFirst Arena. This game will be streamed on FloCollege.