Rams Fall to Hofstra

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.-  Erin Rooney scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down nine rebounds on Friday night, but Hofstra shot nearly 50 percent in the second half to down Fordham 77-64 in the Mack Sports Complex.
 
Rooney's outstanding performance marked her third straight contest with such an effort.  On the season, she's averaging 20.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per outing.
 
Hofstra (2-1) saw two of its players finish with more than 20 points, as Anma Onyeuku scored 23 and Andreana Thomas finished with 21. 
 
Rooney got the Rams (1-2) on the board first, connecting on a free throw just over one minute into the game.
 
The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes before a Mary Nwachukwu layup put Fordham ahead by one, 9-8, with 14:26 to go.  For the next three minutes, the Pride couldn't miss, as five points from Onyeuku led a 9-0 run, giving Hofstra a 17-9 advantage just inside the 12 minute mark.
 
Danielle Burns ended the Hofstra streak with a pair of free throws with just over 11 minutes left in the half, but the Pride notched the next four points to move ahead by ten, 21-11, with 8:40 remaining until the intermission.
 
Fordham uncharacteristically struggled with turnovers over the remainder of the half, allowing the Pride's lead to reach as high as 13 with just under a minute left on the clock.  But the Rams weren't done yet.  Hannah Missry connected on a three for her first points of the game with 37 ticks left in the half and Danielle Burns picked a Hofstra player's pocket and took it in for a transition layup in the stanza's closing seconds.
 
The Rams entered the locker room trailing by eight, 34-26.  Rooney paced the Rams with nine points in the first half.
 
Emily Tapio cut the Hofstra lead to six on the Rams' first possession of the second half, but Hofstra worked the advantage back to ten a few minutes later, 44-34, at the 14:29 mark. 
 
Annie Payton would connect on a three for Hofstra to make the score 47-34 with just under 14 minutes to go, but Burns converted an and-one and Corning nailed a jumper to move the Rams back within eight just over a minute later.
 
With the Rams trailing by eight, 50-42, the Pride uncorked a 9-0 to give them their largest of the game so far.  The Rams would score four in a row after that, but Hofstra's offense continued to click, building the Pride's lead back to 16 with just under eight minutes to go.
 
Fordham continued to battle, whittling the deficit to 12 on two separate occasions, but Hofstra quickly responded to every Ram basket.
 
The Rams made a late push with a 5-0 run, but Hofstra closed out the contest with a 77-64 victory.
 
Fordham will be back in action this Sunday, hosting Pacific at 2 PM in the Rose Hill Gym.