Team Overviews:UNCW- The Seahawks finished the 2008-09 campaign at the bottom of the CAA standings. With a 3-15 conference record (7-24 overall), the injury-riddled Seahawks have struggled to find a foothold all season. After a rough 0-4 start in the CAA, in which the Seahawks were blown out by an average of 26.5 points per game, the prognosis for the remainder of the season looked grim. After picking up their first conference victory against Delaware, the Seahawks fell back into the cellar with a three-game slide in which they lost by 25 points per game. While the second half of the conference slate proved to be more competitive, the results remained the same as the Seahawks fell deeper into their hole. An 81-72 home victory over CAA leaders VCU was the highlight of UNCW’s conference season. The win showed the Seahawks have talent, yet lack the consistency needed to be a top team.

Hofstra- The Pride enter the CAA tournament as the fifth seed after just missing out on a first round bye reserved for the top four teams. Hofstra posted an 11-7 CAA record which included a two-game sweep of the Seahawks. After starting with a modest 2-4 conference record, the Pride turned their season around by winning nine of their final 12 games. During the stretch, the Pride used two separate four-game winning streaks to vault them back into the top half of the CAA standings. The highlight of Hofstra’s season came when they knocked off top-ranked Northeastern at home after being blown out by 23 earlier in the season. The Pride boast a 20-10 overall record which included a season-opening loss to nationally ranked Clemson. With a relatively young squad, Hofstra will look to this year’s tournament as a springboard to becoming a conference power once again.Previous meetings:Jan. 28 – Hofstra 80 – UNCW 78The Pride used 33 points from sophomore guard Charles Jenkins to lift themselves to a two-point win over the Seahawks at Trask Coliseum. With the score tied in the dying seconds, Tony Dennison made a steal that allowed Arminas Urbutis to grab a tip-in at the buzzer to win. Chad Tomko paced the Seahawks with 19 points.

Feb. 28 – Hofstra 88 – UNCW 81 (OT)In the final game of the regular season, Charles Jenkins once again crushed the Seahawks with 35 points. Seahawks junior guard Johnny Wolf drained a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime; however, the Seahawks could not muster enough in the extra period to win. Montez Downey was the Seahawks lead man with 21 points.