HU Lady Pirates use strong second half to beat Saint Peters

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey  –  The Hampton University women’s basketball team picked up speed late in the first half and carried that into the second half on Thursday, beating host Saint Peter’s 62-40 at the Yanitelli Center.

The Lady Pirates (9-4) have held each of their last five opponents under 50 points. Hampton is also a perfect 6-0 on the road so far this season.

Senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) led three Lady Pirates in double figures with 14 points, while junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 13 points and tied her career high with 13 rebounds.

Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 10 points and seven assists.

Saint Peter’s, in looking for its first win of the season, hung tough early, going up 11-9 at the 13:02 mark of the first half after a layup from Kristal Edwards. The Lady Pirates fought back, capping an 8-1 run with a layup from sophomore guard Kenia Cole (Burtonsville, Md.) at the 9:26 mark to give Hampton a 17-12 lead.

The Peacocks took a 20-19 lead with 4:26 left in the half, when Lovisa Hagberg hit a jumper to cap an 8-2 Saint Peter’s run. But the Peacocks only had one more field goal for the rest of the half, and the Lady Pirates closed the frame with a 14-2 run.

Senior guard JoNiquia Guilford (Chesapeake, Va.) capped that run with a baseline jumper as time expired, sending Hampton into the locker room with a 33-22 lead.

A 9-3 Hampton run opened the second half, as the Lady Pirates took a 42-25 lead with 13:16 to play after a layup from Avant. The run ballooned to 22-10 when Bennett hit a fastbreak layup with 7:22 remaining to give the Lady Pirates a 55-32 lead.

From there, the Peacocks never got any closer than within 20.

Hampton’s largest lead of the night came with 5:11 to play, after Cole hit a free throw to put the Lady Pirates up 58-34.

The Lady Pirates shot 38.7 percent (24-for-62) from the floor – including a 41.4 percent (12-for-29) clip in the second half. Hampton also went 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line, and the Lady Pirates out-rebounded the Peacocks 44-37.

Hampton also scored 29 points off of 23 Saint Peter’s turnovers.

The Peacocks (0-10) shot just 27.3 percent (15-for-55) from the floor and hit just one of their 13 3-pointers. Saint Peter’s only converted six field goals in the second half.

Aziza May and Kaydine Bent each had a team-high 10 points for the Peacocks.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Sunday, when they head to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

Box Score

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION