TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team hosted Hofstra on Friday morning in the first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) rematch of the regular season.
 
Towson's (11-7, 4-2 CAA) India Johnston led all players with 13 points in the first half as the Tigers and Hofstra (3-15, 1-6 CAA) were knotted up at 26 at halftime. The Pride held a multiple-possession lead for much of the second half. Down five with 1:41 to go, Johnston's four and Viki Matulevicius' one tied the game at 55. Semaya Turner secured a steal off the Hofstra inbound as the Tigers called their last timeout. Johnston kicked to Zoli Khalil, who found Tilda Sjökvist in the left corner, who drilled the buzzer-beating triple. With that, the Tigers topped the Pride 58-55 at SECU Arena.
 
Key Stats

• Towson got 34 points from its bench, 24 from India Johnston and 10 from Viki Matulevicius, while holding Hofstra to nine bench points.
• The Tigers secured 12 offensive rebounds in the game and scored 13 second-chance points off those turnovers.
• The Black & Gold hit seven triples in the game while holding the Pride to two.

 
How it Happened

• The Tigers started the game with a 6-3 lead in the opening 3:03. Zoli Khalil had four points on two layups to begin the game.
• The Pride scored six straight points to claim a 9-6 lead.
• Thalia Shepard hit a three in the closing seconds of the quarter to tie the game at nine.
• Johnston hit a triple to begin the quarter before the Tigers surrendered 11 unanswered points to the Pride.
• Another Johnston triple and Tilda Sjökvist's layup pulled Towson within three at 20-17.
• The Tigers closed the quarter on a 9-6 run, led by Johnston with five, to knot the score at 26 at the half.
• Hofstra opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run, forcing a Towson timeout.
• The Pride widened their lead to as many as eight in the quarter. Johnston and Matulevicius each had five in period, shrinking the deficit to 43-40 with ten minutes to play.
• Johnston's layup with 6:51 remaining pulled the Tigers back within one possession.
• Alarice Gooden's jumper with 1:41 on the clock put the Pride back up by five.
• Johnston hit two free throws on the next offensive possession before Matulevicius hit her second on the subsequent possession to pull Towson back within two.
• Off a Gooden miss, Semaya Turner secured the rebound and called a timeout with 30 seconds left.
• Out of the timeout, Johnston made a layup to tie the game at 55.
• Turner stole the ball from Ema Karim off Hofstra's inbound, and the Tigers called their last timeout with 20 seconds remaining.
• At the top of the key, Johnston kicked to Khalil, who found Tilda Sjökvist in the left corner. Sjökvist beat the buzzer on a three to deliver a 58-55 win to the Tigers on their home court.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Johnston finished two points shy of her career high of 26. She was 9-20 from the field and 4-11 from three.
• Matulevicius posted career highs in rebounds and assists with eight and four, respectively. She finished with ten points, marking her third game in double figures this season.
• It marks Towson's first win on a buzzer beater since a 55-54 win over Drexel on Jan. 4, 2019.

 
Next Game
The Tigers will face Drexel tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The game was rescheduled to Saturday due to inclement weather in Sunday's forecast.