Hofstra women fall to UNC Wilmington, 94-87

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- The Hofstra women's basketball team traveled to the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament looking forward to a long stay, another crack at seventh-ranked Delaware and possibly a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, Hofstra went home early, wondering what happened to a season that held so much promise two months ago. Fifth-seeded UNC Wilmington ousted the fourth-seeded Pride, 94-87, in a quarterfinal game Friday at The Show Place Arena.

Trailing by nine at halftime, Hofstra (19-11) rallied to tie the score midway through the second half, but the Seahawks (20-11) quickly regained the lead and held it as the Pride was unable to get key defensive stops in the final seven minutes.

The Pride got to within either one or two points four times in the final 6:40, but each time the Seahawks responded with a score. Nicole Capurso hit a three-pointer with 4:04 to play to bring Hofstra within 80-78, but the Seahawks then went up by eight before holding on.

"We had the game within our reach and we didn't execute at all down the stretch," Hofstra coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey said.

"We came out, made a run, got it down to zero-zero and then they wanted it more than us, or they played like they did," senior guard Candice Bellocchio said. "I'm definitely shocked."

Shante Evans led Hofstra with 21 points and 10 rebounds, her 17th double-double of the season. Capurso added 18 points, Candace Bond 17 and Marie Malone 12.

Sophomore guard Abria Trice scored a career-high 33 points for the Seahawks, shooting 13-for-16 from the field and 3-for-3 from outside the arc. She had 20 points in the first half. Reserve guard Jessica Freeman added 17 points, eight steals, five rebounds and five assists for UNC Wilmington, which faces top-seeded Delaware (28-1) -- a 74-54 winner over eighth-seeded Old Dominion -- in a semifinal Saturday.

Hofstra, which was 13-3 in mid-January, including 5-0 in CAA play, has gone 6-8 since and will be looking for a WNIT bid. "It's just been a puzzling thing the last few weeks with this squad," Kilburn-Steveskey said. "I can promise one thing: It will be fixed. I don't like the way we're playing. We're not playing smart."

The Pride shot 50 percent for the game (30-for-60), but the Seahawks were almost as good (34-for-71) and outrebounded Hofstra 44-31.

Both teams shot over 55 percent in the first half, but Hofstra was outscored 17-10 in the final 4:04 and trailed 51-42 at the break. Down 61-52 with 17:10 left, Hofstra, keyed by two three-pointers from sophomore guard Katelyn Loper, outscored the Seahawks 14-5, and Bellocchio tied the score at 66 with a free throw after a UNC Wilmington technical foul.

Hofstra had a chance to take the lead, but Loper missed a jumper and the Eagles got a pair of free throws from Karneshia Garrett to go up 68-66.