Women’s basketball rebounds to defeat conference foe Hofstra

Stephen Kasper

Contributing Writer

After a disappointing loss against James Madison on Thursday, the VCU women’s basketball team bounced back to defeat Hofstra 85-76 on Sunday.

Sonia Johnson recorded a double-double for VCU with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Courtney Hurt racked up 26 points and 15 rebounds to collect her 19th straight double-double, a school record.

Bad passing became a problem early as VCU had nine first-half turnovers.

After settling down and getting into their groove, VCU was able to start playing their game and kept the score close and went into halftime tied at 40.

After getting into foul trouble early, Hurt was only able to play the first six minutes of the game before head coach Cunningham was forced to sit her for the remainder of the half.

“I definitely thought about putting her back in,” Cunningham said. But she knew the risk would be too great and wanted to make sure Hurt was ready for the second half.

By keeping Hurt on the bench for so long, it showed not only the trust Cunningham puts in the rest of her team, but the teams ability to get the job done on their own.

Even with Hurt on the bench for so long and barely playing more than half the game, she still recorded an NCAA leading 19th straight double-double. She came out in the second half ready to play and get her team going.

Sitting on the bench so long would seem frustrating but Hurt said her maturation has been key stating, “Maybe earlier in the season I would have been frustrated, but I have matured and I put a lot more trust in my team.”

By doing so, she played a great team leader and showed how mature she really is.

When asked about Hurt’s demeanor, Cunningham said, “She’s such a competitor and simply refuses to lose.”

Hurt and her entire team refused to lose this one even when turnovers and disappointing calls went against them.

VCU (14-9, 9-4) will face off against second-place Old Dominion (17-7, 11-2) Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Siegel
Center.