Hofstra Picks Up First Home Win Against Fordham

Published: oncampuspsorts.com November 16, 2013

 Senior, Anma Oneyeuku, scored a career high 23 points off of the bench to propel Hofstra past Fordham 77-64 on Friday night.  Oneyeuku also had career high seven assists. Junior guard, Andreana Thomas, added 21 points in the victory.  Sophomore, Ruth Sherrill, snagged  a career high 13 rebounds.

 Friday’s win was the Pride’s first home win of the season as they improve to 2-1. The Fordham Rams fall to 1-2 on the season.

 “Everybody was understanding personnel and they played each player extremely well. Credit to them. I’m very proud of them” said Hofstra coach Krista Kilburn-Steveskey.

 Senior, Erin Rooney, led the Rams with a career high 23 points. Fellow senior, Abigail Corning, added 11 points for the visiting squad.

 The game got off to a slow start as neither team scored in the first 1:44 of the first half. Sophomore Syndi Epps got it started for the Pride with a lay-up with 17:59 on the clock. Senior, Annie Payton, made a lay-up to give Hofstra the lead with 14:10 remaining in the half. The Pride never looked back as they kept their lead for the rest of the game. Oneyeuku made one of her most impressive plays of the half as she stole the ball and finished with a layup with 8:45 left.

 The Rams started off the second half on a 2-0 run to cut the lead to six. This was the closest that the Rams would come to the Pride for the rest of the night. Oneyeuku made a tough jumper from the right side of the basket as she drew the foul with 12:01 remaining in the half. Thomas made a highly contested layup and followed with a free throw with 10:14 on the clock. Thomas’ three-point play gave Hofstra its largest lead of the game with 17 points.

 Oneyeuku was battling a minor leg injury this week, but it didn’t show against the Rams. “I had a lot of opportunities to watch the scouts in practice since I couldn’t go as much because of my leg. There was a lot of focus on what we didn’t do so well in the last game” said Oneyeuku when asked what attributed to her big performance.

“Having Oneyeuku back and everybody contributing opened up the lanes for me even more.” Thomas said. “They had to respect my teammates which gave me opportunities to score.”

 The Pride look to remain unbeaten on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 20 as they travel to Evanston, Illinois to take on the Northwestern Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.