March 15, 2006

Box Score

Hempstead, N.Y. - Vanessa Gidden led five players in double-figures as Hofstra cruised to a 92-65 victory over Stony Brook in the preliminary round of the Women's NIT on Wednesday night at Hofstra University Arena. The loss ends the Seawolves turn-around season at 20-10, while the Pride moves to 19-11 and moves on to face Villanova in the first round on Saturday.

The Pride took control early, scoring the game's first 15 points and making 12 of their first 17 shots to jump out to a 27-8 lead just eight minutes into the contest. Stony Brook finally got its offense going, using an 8-0 run behind six points from Mykeema Ford to cut it back to 11 points at 29-18 with 9:25 remaining in the first half.

Hofstra pushed the advantage back to 13 points at the break, finishing the opening half a scorching 61.8 percent (21-for-34) from the floor to lead 48-35.

The Pride picked up right where it left off, using a 13-5 run to open the second half and take a commanding 61-40 edge at the 16:49 mark. That lead ballooned to as many as 34 points at 88-54 with 5:22 left to play en route to the 92-65 victory.

Ford led the Seawolves with 16 points, while Dana Ferraro added 14 points and six rebounds and Jessica Smith netted 13 points in the loss.

Gidden pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to go with her 22 points, while Lizanne Murphy tallied 18 points and nine rebounds. Lana Harshaw and Cigi McCollin each netted 16 points and Amaka Agugua added 11 for the Pride.