Matchup                 Towson Tigers (8-5, 1-0 CAA) vs. Hofstra Pride (3-10, 1-1 CAA)
When                     Friday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m.
Where                    David S. Mack Sports & Exhibition Complex | Hempstead, N.Y.
TV/Stream              FloCollege
Live Stats               TowsonTigers.com
Series                    Towson leads the all-time series 41-38
 
TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University women's basketball team embarks on its first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) road trip of the season to face the Hofstra Pride on Friday at 6 p.m. in Hempstead, N.Y.
 
The game will stream live on FloCollege. Live stats can be found at TowsonTigers.com.
 
Last Time Out
Towson and Campbell opened Friday's game at a slow pace as the Camels took a 12-10 lead into the first quarter break. India Johnston scored the Tigers' first 11 points in the second quarter, giving Towson a 30-26 halftime lead. In a tightly-contested second half, the Black & Gold went 7-8 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to secure a 57-54 win over the Camels to begin conference play.
 
The Towson bench outscored Campbell's 29-3 in the game. India Johnston led all scorers with 19 points off the bench.
 
The Tigers were 15-21 from the free throw line while holding the Camels to nine makes on 12 free throw attempts.
 
Scouting the Pride
Hofstra enters Friday's game at 3-10 overall and 1-1 through the opening week of CAA play. The Pride fell 95-38 against #7 Maryland, their only common opponent of the Tigers in non-conference play. The Pride were picked to finish ninth in the CAA women's basketball preseason poll. They boast a Preseason All-CAA Second Team selection in senior guard Chloe Sterling. Senior guard Emma Von Essen was named a preseason honorable mention. Sterling leads the Pride with 11.0 points per game this season.
 
Shooters Shoot
Towson has hit at least eight threes in nine of 13 games this season. Compare that to last season, when the Black & Gold did so just twice in 32 games.
 
In all but one of their wins this season, the Tigers have hit at least seven triples and are 7-3 in games in which they hit seven or more as a team.
 
The Tigers have four players this season currently averaging at least one made three per game: Tilda Sjökvist (2.2), India Johnston (1.8), Zoli Khalil (1.2) and Thalia Shepard (1.1). Johnston (1.6) finished as the lone player on last year's squad to eclipse that mark over the full season.
 
1K India
Senior guard India Johnston currently has 961 points, 39 shy of eclipsing 1,000 points in her career. Johnston currently boasts 145 made triples in her three-plus seasons at Towson.
 
Among the Nation's Best
Towson forward Kayla Morris has anchored the Towson defense, averaging 3.00 blocks per game this season. That average is second among Division I leaders, and her 39 total blocks rank ninth in the nation.
 
Senior guard Tilda Sjökvist is 34th in Division I with a 43.08% (28-65) three-point field goal percentage.
 
Weekly Honors
India Johnston was named CAA Co-Player of the Week on Dec. 22. The Delaware native averaged 21.5 points on 59.3% (16-27) shooting in wins over Maryland Eastern Shore and Lehigh. She shot a combined 57.1% (57.1%) from behind the arc in her first two games coming off the bench this season.
 
Johnston posted a career-high 26 points against the Hawks, including 20 in the second half and overtime. She was 10-18 from the field and 5-9 from behind the arc, adding three rebounds, three steals and an assist.
 
Viki Matulevicius earned the CAA Rookie of the Week nod on Nov. 17 after amassing 14 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 mark from behind the arc in the Tigers' Nov. 16 win over Coppin State in 19 minutes off the bench. She added two rebounds and a block in the victory.
 
The redshirt freshman averaged 6.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.7 assists in the Tigers' 2-1 week, shooting 41.2% (7-17) from the field and 55.6% (5-9) from deep.
 
SECU Sellout
Towson University had the first sellout in SECU Arena history on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, as the women's basketball team faced Loyola on STEM Day. A record crowd of 5,209 was announced.
 
It marks the second-consecutive season the Towson women's basketball team has had a program-record-setting crowd at SECU Arena.
 
Southpaws at SECU
The Tigers have three guards this season who are natural left-handed shooters: Thalia Shepard, Asya Lara Barnes and Nadeya Regala.
 
International Flavor
Two young Tigers got a taste for International Basketball Federation (FIBA) basketball this summer.
 
True freshman Asya Lara Barnes played for Turkey in the U18 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, where she led the field in three-point field goals made. Barnes finished seventh overall in shooting efficiency from behind the arc and led Turkey in scoring.
 
Redshirt freshman Viki Matulevicius played for Lithuania in the U20 Women's FIBA EuroBasket, helping the team reach its first-ever championship appearance. She averaged 12.2 points on 43.2% shooting, adding 2.1 assists per game, all of which ranked third on Lithuania's team.
 
League Honors
Senior guard India Johnston earned a 2025-26 Preseason All-CAA Second Team selection after pacing the Tigers with 12.5 points per game on 37.4% shooting from the field, adding a team-best 2.5 assists. The Delaware product was efficient from behind the arc, hitting 52 triples at a 34.7% clip. She added 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 steals in 34 minutes per game in 32 games last season.
 
Johnston shot more efficiently in league play during her junior campaign, shooting 38.7% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range against CAA opponents. The senior matched her career-high of 24 in the second round of the CAA Championship last March, accounting for 45.3% of the Tigers' points in the win over the No. 6 Elon Phoenix.
 
Welcoming Coaches
The Tigers have added a couple of new and one familiar face to the staff ahead of the 2025-26 season.
 
Tony DiClemente joined the staff as an assistant coach after serving as associate head coach at Army West Point last season, where he helped lead the Black Knights to 25 wins, the team's second-most in program history. Army earned a berth to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT), where the Black Knights won their first-ever Division I postseason game, 59-58, over Bryant.
 
Nick Boboshko returns to Towson as an assistant coach and director of basketball operations, having worked in a similar role at Presbyterian last season. Prior to Presbyterian, Boboshko served as a graduate assistant at Ottawa University in Kansas. The Maryland native graduated from TU in 2023 after being a two-year manager and practice player for the Tigers from 2021-23.
 
Chris Hays joins the Tigers as the assistant director of basketball performance. Hays has held similar strength and conditioning roles at private facilities and other Division I institutions, like Jacksonville and Drexel. The Pennsylvania native previously worked with Coach Harper during her Coppin State tenure (2020-22).
 
Other staff changes include Eric Atkins' elevation to associate head coach and Lorie Khalil's assumption of the general manager role for the 2025-26 season.
 
Last Season's Recap
Towson finished the 2024-25 season at 12-20 overall and 8-10 in CAA play. The Tigers entered the CAA Championship as the No. 11 seed and topped the No. 14 Northeastern Huskies in the opening round. In the second round, the Tigers upset the No. 6 Elon Phoenix, backed by India Johnston's career-high-tying 24 points. The Tigers faced No. 3 Campbell in the quarterfinals, falling to the Camels at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.