ATLANTA
(Feb. 10) – Hofstra shot 50 percent overall and 50 percent outside the 3-point
line in rolling to a 72-59 win over Georgia State Sunday afternoon in the GSU
Sports Arena.
Hofstra
(11-11, 7-4) kept their transition game alive with 21 assists, one shy of a
season high, with 13 assists by point guard Andreana Thomas, which was one shy
of the all-time school record. While Thomas was scoring (eight points) and making
assists, the Pride was making 3-point shots, including a perfect 3-for-3 from
Asia Jackson off the bench and a perfect 2-for-2 from forward Anma Onyeuku.
Hofsta finished with 29-of-58 from the field and 8-of-16 from beyond the arc to
tie their season most.
In the
final two minutes of the game with Hofstra up by 13 points, senior forward
Shane Evans got three lay-ups and six points to finish with 19 in the game and
11 rebounds. That last basket gave Evans an even 2,000 points and made her the
7th player in CAA history with 2,000 points. The league leader in
double-double games, Evans has 64 in her career.
Georgia
State (11-11, 3-8) couldn't get the ball in the basket, starting 4-for-20
shooting and finishing 19-of-54 for 35 percent. The Panthers compounded the
poor shooting with careless turnovers (22) that led to 26 Pride points.
GSU got
a career-high 20 points from point guard Ashley Watson, while Kendra Long added
18 points with four 3-point baskets. Cody Paulk led in rebounding with 13
caroms to go with three blocked shots. Paulk leads the CAA with 58 and has 191
for her career now, seventh most in CAA history. Leading scorer Kayla Nolan played only 13 minutes (coach's decision) and had just one free throw for one
point on the day.
Hofstra
jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead in two and a half minutes and GSU's coach pulled
all five starters. The five reserves chipped away and head the game back to
12-9 at 12:22. Then, Hofstra began
taking advantage of the reserves with a 10-0 run that built a 22-9 lead with
9:41. Coach then put the five starters back in the game after sitting on the
bench for almost 10 minutes.
Hofstra's
largest lead of the first half was 14 points, but GSU cut that down to 36-31 at
halftime when Long drained a three-pointer with two seconds left.
The
second half started much the same as the first, as Hofstra roared back with a
11-4 run to oper a 45-33 lead after the first five minutes. GSU cut it back to
eight points at 47-39 with 13:34, but five quick Hofstra points opened it back
to 13 points at 52-39.
GSU
could only cut the lead back to 10 points several times, but never seriously
threatened after the 52-39 lead.
“Disappointed
is the first word that comes to mind,” said head coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener. “Our
starting five did not come to play and weren't ready at the start of either
half. I have no idea why. Our defensive pressure certainly wasn't good today
with just five steals. Our shooting was terrible. Maybe I should say our free
throw shooting was OK at 81%?”
“There
were a few moments where we showed a little spark and effort,” coach added. “Hofstra
is a good team, but they made some shots today they haven't been normally
making and that gave them confidence.”
This game also marked the Play4Kay breast cancer awareness day as the Panthers wore special pink uniforms that are being auctioned off for that charity. Pink t-shirts were sold during the day with all proceeds going to the charity as well.
Georgia State returns
to action Thursday when it plays host of Towson at 7 p.m. in the Sports Arena.
TV HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY GAME, CLICK HERE
