Kansas State Visits Hampton Before Holiday Break

Wildcats to make first appearance in Virginia since 1984

Game 9 Kansas State at Hampton
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 | 3 p.m. (CT)
HU Convocation Center (7,200) | Hampton, Va.

Team Information
Kansas State Wildcats (5-3, 0-0 Big 12)
Head Coach: Deb Patterson (Rockford ‘79)
Career Record: 344-210 (.621) 18th year
School Record: Same
Last game: W, 73-64 vs. UCSB on Dec. 15, 2013
website: www.kstatesports.com
Twitter: @kstatesports, @kstate_gameday, #KStateWBB

Hampton Lady Pirates  (8-3, 2-0 MEAC)
Head Coach: David Six (Hampton ‘09)
Career Record: 107-33 (.764) 5th year
School Record: Same
Last game: W, 50-47 at Drexel on Dec. 18, 2013
website: www.hamptonpirates.com
Twitter: @Hampton_WBB

Series History and Notes
Kansas State leads the series, 1-0... K-State won the last meeting between the schools, 78-42, on Feb. 20, 1996 in Manhattan... Head coach Deb Patterson is facing Hampton for the first time... K-State is 2-0 against schools from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)... K-State’s last game against a MEAC school came on Nov. 30, 2005 against Delaware State, a 78-30 win for K-State in Manhattan... This will be K-State’s first visit to the state of Virginia since Jan. 5, 1984 when K-State played Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va.

Game Information
TV: None
Radio: K-State Sports Network (PbP: Brian Smoller; Color: Claire Coggins)
Internet: Free live audio & free live stats at www.kstatesports.com
Tickets: Visit www.hamptonpirates.com or call (757) 728-6828
   
MANHATTAN, Kansas –  Kansas State will hit the road before the holiday break, as the Wildcats travel to the state of Virginia for the first time since Jan. 5, 1984 to face Hampton on Saturday at 3 p.m. (CT). The Wildcats will bring a season-high three-game win streak to Hampton, which is the longest winning streak since K-State won seven straight to open the 2012-13 season. K-State will look to snap a seven-game road losing streak.

Saturday’s game will be available on the K-State Sports Network and for free at kstatesports.com, as the award-winning Brian Smoller delivers the play-by-play and former K-State letter winner Claire Coggins drops in with the color analysis. Fans can also follow the live stats at kstatesports.com, and receive updates on Twitter by following @kstate_gameday.

Kansas State (5-3) captured its third straight game with a 73-64 win over UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Dec. 15. For the seventh time this season, K-State’s bench outscored its opponents’ bench, 29-11. The Wildcats’ bench has outscored its opponents’ bench, 224-114, this season. The 224 bench points are the most through eight games since the 2005-06 squad registered 315 bench points after eight games.

For the second time this season, K-State had three players reach double figures in scoring with Leticia Romero notching 15 points, Ashia Woods tallied 13 points and Bri Craig came off the bench to card 11 points. Romero, a freshman guard from Las Palmas, Spain, is averaging team-highs of 11.8 points, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals and is second on the team with 5.9 rebounds. Romero is the only freshman in the Big 12 and the first freshman in the Deb Patterson era to average at least 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals after the first eight games of the season. She has led the Wildcats in scoring four times and assists seven times as she dished out five assists against the Gauchos to lead the Wildcats.

Romero’s points per game ranks 20th in the Big 12, while she is sixth for all players in the league, 55th in the nation and is the top freshman in the Big 12 for assists per game. Over the last five games, she has dished out 28 assists which are the most for a K-State freshman over a five-game span since Shalee Lehning handed out 36 assists from March 17-31, 2006.

In addition to Woods recording 13 points, she also hauled in seven rebounds and tied for the team season-high and equaled her career-high for the third time with five steals. In the four games since she returned from her ruptured Achilles tendon rehabilitation (which took her 310 days) on Nov. 28, Woods is averaging 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.5 assists.

Craig came off the bench to register her first game in double figures since March 4, 2013 at Baylor. The sophomore guard from Lincoln, Neb., tallied a 3-of-3 performance from beyond the arc and was 2-of-2 from the foul line. Over the last two games, Craig is averaging 8.5 points and is shooting .625 from the 3-point line.

At a Glance: Hampton
Hampton (8-3, 2-0 MEAC) enters Saturday’s game with a three-game winning streak and have won five of their last six games. In their last outing, the Lady Pirates held off Drexel in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, 50-47. Hampton ranks 53rd in the nation and second in the MEAC in scoring defense at 58.2 points per game. They are also holding foes to a 3-point field goal percentage of .287 to rank 77th in the nation.

A season ago, the Lady Pirates led the NCAA in scoring defense at 47.8 points per game and finished third in the nation in opponent field goal percentage (.320) and 3-point field goal percentage (.243). Over the last two years, the HU Convocation Center has been a difficult place to play for opponents, as Hampton has won 18 of its last 19 home games.

The Lady Pirates are led on the sidelines by fifth year head coach David Six. The 2009 graduate of Hampton owns a 107-33 (.764) record during his time at his alma mater, including a 58-6 (.906) mark in the MEAC. Six guided Hampton to a school record for wins in a season with a 28-6 mark, including a 16-0 record in the MEAC, and captured both the regular season and postseason MEAC titles. The Lady Pirates earned a No. 15 seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament and fell to No. 2 seed Duke in Durham, N.C., 67-51. Six has led Hampton to four straight MEAC tournament titles, which have resulted in four straight NCAA tournament appearances.

On the floor, Hampton features three players on its roster averaging double figures. Leading the way is freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas with 18.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists. The product of Harrisburg, Pa., is fifth in the MEAC for points per game and third in the league in 3-point field goals made per game (2.4)..

Just behind Tate-DeFreitas in double figures are senior forward Alyssa Bennett and senior guard Nicole Hamilton. Bennett is averaging 17.4 points, a team-high 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals. Bennett tallied 13 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and two steals at Drexel on Wednesday.

Hamilton is third on the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), third in rebounding (6.1 rpg) and leads the team in assists (5.6 apg). At Drexel, Hamilton led the Lady Pirates with 18 points, six assists, three steals, two blocks and also pulled in five rebounds.

Wildcats on the RoadK-State has a 247-251 (.496) record in road games during the program’s 46-year history. During the 21st century, K-State owns an 87-71 (.551) mark in road contests and are 104-105 (.498) during Deb Patterson’s 18 seasons on the K-State bench. K-State is currently in the middle of a seven-game road losing streak.

K-State notched a 10-5 (.667) record on the road in 2008-09 to break the previous school record of nine (1982-83 and 2001-02).

Wildcats Goose Egg Cavs, Gauchos From Distance
The Wildcats’ perimeter defense was stout at the Junkanoo Jam on Nov. 28-29, as K-State held SMU and Virginia to 5-of-28 (.179) shooting from beyond the arc. The Wildcats are fourth in the Big 12 and 49th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.263; 25-of-95). Over the last four games, K-State has held its opponents to 7-of-36 (.194) shooting from beyond the arc.

K-State has held two opponents (vs. Virginia, Nov. 29; UCSB, Dec. 15) to zero connections from the 3-point line this season, the first time the Wildcats have done this since the 2011-12 season. Kansas State has now held opponents without a 3-point field goal 11 times in the last eight seasons, including nine times in the last five seasons. Kansas State held Virginia without a connection on 10 attempts, while the Wildcats held UCSB to zero makes on just one attempt.



COURTESY KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS