Stony Brook had a rough start to the game, recovered with late runs to close the gap, but eventually fell to the Hofstra Pride 84-72 on Thursday night.
An intense Hofstra defense stifled the Seawolves in the opening moments and drew two fouls on starter Juanita Cochran in the first two minutes of play, sending her to the bench for the half. Before the game was five minutes old, the Seawolves found themselves in an 18-5 hole.
Down 24-8, Stony Brook caught fire behind Jodie Plikus, who nailed a trio of three-point shots in the midst of a 15-2 run that cut the Pride lead to 3.
With 2.8 seconds left in the half, Stony Brook was dealt a bad break when starting point guard Misha Horsey was fouled and stayed down for a while. She was done for the game, later seen using crutches to get to the bench with her left knee heavily iced. There was no word on how serious the injury is or how much time, if any, she'll miss.
Heroes: With Horsey out, Sam Landers took over the primary ball-handling responsibility and played admirably. In the face of heavy pressure while bringing the ball up, Landers committed just one turnover and dished out seven assists to go along with 11 points. With leading scorer Kirsten Jeter held to only 19 minutes due to foul trouble, Amanda Corona took over some of the scoring load by shooting 3 for 5 from behind the arc in the second half, playing a big role in cutting down the Hofstra lead.
Quotable: Coach Michele Cherry on Landers filling in for Horsey: "Sam's a good ball handler. I have a lot of confidence in Sam. If Misha's out for a while Sam will be fine. ... She's a smart point guard. She played a lot [last year] as a freshman, which is unusual for a point guard. She knows what we want to do and she's more than capable."
Bottom Line: Stony Brook's starting center played just two minutes in the first half, its starting point guard left with a potentially serious injury, its leading scorer shot 4-for-12 and yet the team hung around and stayed in a game against a quality opponent. This game had the potential to devolve into a blowout, but the Seawolves fought back and never made it easy for the Pride. With several players already being slowed by nagging injuries, a potentially serious injury could hinder the team, or it could be just another hardship to overcome. With just two games in the next 12 days, the team will have some time to heal up the minor bumps and bruises.
Key Stats:
Landers: 4-10, 11 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals.
Jodie Plikus: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals.
Destiny Jacobs: 8 rebounds, 1 block.
