March 9, 2006

2006 Aéropostale CAA Women's Basketball Championship Quarterfinals - Game 7

FAIRFAX, Va. (March 9, 2006) - Fifth-seeded Hofstra used a 21-point, 17-rebound performance from Vanessa Gidden and three other starters in double figures to earn a 86-77 victory over twelfth-seeded Georgia State Thursday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2006 CAA Women's Basketball Championship.

The Pride (18-10) will face either George Mason or Old Dominion on Friday in their first postseason semifinal appearance since 1993-94 when they were a member of the East Coast Conference. In addition to Gidden, Cigi McCollin scored 19, Amaka Agugua added 15, and Lizanne Murphy chimed in with 10.

Georgia State falls to 9-20 one night after upsetting No. 5 seed William & Mary despite another solid performance that included a 46 percent shooting performance. Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen led the way for the Lady Panthers with 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Freshman Marcquitta Head contributed 16 points and nine boards before fouling out, and Keisha Monroe added 11 points, seven rebounds and four helpers.

It was a back-and-forth game for most of the first half, with five ties and five lead changes. Hofstra eventually took the lead at the 7:44 mark with a Lana Harshaw jumper, and the Pride would go on to lead by as much as seven on four occasions before settling for a 37-33 halftime advantage.

Agugua paced the Pride at the break with 10 points and five rebounds, while Gidden and McCollin added eight points apiece. Roegiers-Jensen led the Lady Panthers with nine at the half.

The second half began at a feverish pace, with the teams trading a total of 21 points before the first media timeout. Georgia State hit five of its first seven shots to pull within three, but Hofstra countered to get the lead back to nine at the 12:22 mark.

The Lady Panthers were unable to make a dent in the deficit until a Roegiers-Jensen steal led to a Timetra Richmond fast-break layup that caused the Pride to call a timeout at the 1:18 mark with the lead down to five, 78-73.

Hofstra's India Ali missed one of two free throws on the next possession, but as the Lady Panthers came down to try and cut the lead further, McCollin made a key steal with 51.6 seconds remaining. Georgia State was forced to foul the rest of the way to try to stay alive, but it was to no avail as Hofstra hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.