TOWSON, Md. – The 12th-seeded Hofstra Pride used a proven March Madness upset tool to defeat the fifth-seeded North Carolina A&T Aggies in the second round of the Jersey Mike's Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Thursday night at Towson University's SECU Arena.
3-point shooting.
The Pride made 10 of its 16 3-point attempts on its way to a 66-59 win over the Aggies to advance to meet fourth-seeded William & Mary Friday afternoon at 2:30. Conversely, the Aggies went only 1-for-11 from beyond the arc. The Pride hit two threes in A&T's 63-44 win in Hempstead, NY, on Jan. 8.
"I did not see that coming," said A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson about Hofstra's 3-point shooting. "But this is Division I basketball, and when you allow them to have the type of shots, we allowed, some drives and kicks, some inside-outs and some threes. Anybody at this level can knock them down."
Hofstra got off to a blazing start, using a Sorelle Ineza 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to take a 17-8 lead. A&T appeared to shake the early doldrums, however, using two Chaniya Clark free throws to cut Hofstra's lead to 19-16 with 6:50 remaining in the first half. Unfortunately, Hofstra heated up again.
The Pride used three 3-pointers to outscore A&T 15-8 over the next five minutes of the second quarter to take a 34-24. Maleia Bracone whipped a pass down in the low post to Clark to cut the lead to eight before another Ineza 3-pointer gave the Pride a 37-26 halftime lead. Ineza ended the game with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and 3-for-4 shooting from three.
The game was about the Hofstra Lady Pride," said Robinson. "They came in on fire and jumped on us. We made a run at the end, but by that time, they were too confident. They had already got rolling, so we weren't able to pull it off."
Hofstra carried a 57-45 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Aggies started to chip away at the Pride lead. A&T used its defensive pressure to force the Pride into some bad shots to open the quarter. It allowed the Aggies to go on a 10-2 run capped by a Jordyn Dorsey jumper that cut Hofstra's lead to 59-55, forcing the Pride to call timeout.
After the timeout, Bracone swooped in for a layup that got the Aggies to within two with 5:52 remaining in the game. Clark tipped in her miss two minutes later to tie the game at 59.
But fittingly, a 3-point shot returned the momentum to Hofstra as Emma Von Essen knocked down a timely three to give the Pride a 62-59 lead with 3:24 to play. After that, the Aggies did not score another point as Hofstra improved to 12-19 to advance to the quarterfinals after beating UNC Wilmington on Wednesday and A&T on Thursday.
In addition to Hofstra's 3-point shooting, the Aggies essentially had to play its second straight game without second-team all-conference center Jazmin Harris who sustained an injury at Delaware on March 2. Clark, a member of the All-CAA freshman team, stepped in at center to score 15 points and grab seven rebounds even though she was hobbled.
Dorsey added 15 points and five rebounds, and Bracone, a third-team selection and an all-defensive team member finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals. Laila Acox, who scored 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting at Drexel last Saturday, played only nine minutes and scored only two points because of foul trouble.
Thursday left the Aggies looking for their first conference tournament win since leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 2021 after they lost in their first game of the Big South Conference tournament last season. A&T moved to 18-12 on the season. The Aggies are expected to return every key contributor from the 2022-23 team except Harris.
"I'm proud of my young women even though I'm disappointed about this moment," said Robinson. "I'm proud of the impact we made on the CAA in our inaugural year, and I'm excited about the future.
Our first year was fantastic. I like to describe the league as professional. Everything was done the right way. The road teams who hosted us were great. I'm excited to be a part of (the CAA) and looking forward to the future."
