HOFSTRA BECOMES LOWEST SEED TO REACH SEMIFINALS WITH 55-50 WIN OVER CAMPBELL
Ben Kane
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PRESS CONFERENCE- HOFSTRA |
PRESS CONFERENCE - CAMPBELL
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 13, 2026) – No. 10 Hofstra became the lowest seed to ever reach the semifinals of the Credit Union 1 CAA Women's Basketball Championship with a 55-50 win over No. 2 Campbell on Saturday night at CareFirst Arena.
The Pride (10-21) will play in the penultimate round of the tournament for the first time since 2021 and are set to face either No. 3 Drexel or No. 6 Elon on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Campbell fell to 20-12 following the loss.
Hofstra got double-digit scoring performances from three players, including Alarice Gooden, who had a team-high 14 points. Emma Von Essen had her second game of the tournament with at least 10 points, after tallying 11 against the Camels and Chloe Sterling contributed 10 points.
Jasmine Felton neared a double-double with eight points and seven rebounds for Campbell. Her teammate, Olivia Tucker led the Camels with 10 points.
Neither team was able to build much of an advantage in the first half, despite five lead changes and a similar tally in ties. Both programs led by as many as five points, with Hofstra’s coming at the turn of the halves. Chloe Sterling ran down the court with less than 12 seconds on the clock and drilled a three from the top of the arc to earn the Pride a 25-20 lead.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Pride had everything going their way. Thursday night's hero, Von Essen, knocked down a trey to push her team up seven with 5:09 to go in the game before Campbell got going. First came a Felton 3-pointer, then free throws from Jasmine Nivar.
Ciara Alexander came off the bench and sank a layup with 3:06 on the clock to cap off a 7-0 run and knot the game at 44. Hofstra regained its lead a minute and a half later when Ema Karim knocked down a 3-pointer before Gooden extended the advantage to 49-44 with a layup.
When free throws came into play, Hofstra was clinical. Perfect trips to the line from Sterling and Gooden kept their team ahead by at least two possessions to help close out the win.