Hampton Lady Pirates blow out Saint Peter's; Six earn 100th win

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- The Hampton University women's basketball team raced past Saint Peter's 64-37 on Sunday afternoon to open the 2013-14 season in the HU Convocation Center, helping head coach David Six reach a milestone.

The win marked 100 in Six's collegiate career; he is 100-30 with the Lady Pirates (1-0).

Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.), the MEAC Preseason Co-Player of the Year, led three Lady Pirates in double figures with 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting, to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds – four of which came on the offensive end.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisbiurg, Pa.) added 15 points, six rebounds, and four steals in her collegiate debut, while senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) poured in 11 points.

Hampton led 2-0 before the clock even started, after DeFreitas drained two free throws following a technical foul assessed to the Saint Peter's bench. The Peacocks tied the game at 2-2 at the 18:57 mark, but when Tate-DeFreitas hit a jumper at the 18:41 mark to put Hampton up 4-2, the Lady Pirates never looked back.

In fact, the Lady Pirates scored 19 of the next 20 points after the tie, taking a 21-3 lead with 12:46 left in the half after a jumper from Bennett.

Kaydine Bent ended the run with a jumper at the 12:04 mark, cutting the lead to 21-5 – and giving Saint Peter's its first field goal in almost seven minutes.

Antonia Smith cut the lead to 24-7 with a jumper at the 11:10 mark, but the Lady Pirates responded by scoring the next seven points to take a 31-7 lead after Hamilton hit a pair of free throws with 7:41 left in the half.

The Peacocks did not hit double figures until a free throw from Bent at the 5:26 mark cut Hampton's lead to 34-10. Hamilton answered with a jumper 13 seconds later to give the Lady Pirates a 36-10 lead, their largest of the half.

Hampton led 38-17 at the half; Hamilton, Bennett, and sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) each had nine points at the intermission. Saint Peter's had just five field goals in the first 20 minutes.

The Lady Pirates scored the first five points of the second half, taking a 43-17 lead with 18:27 left to play after Bennett hit a fast-break layup. Overall, Hampton opened the second half on a 17-1 run, leading 55-18 with 12:36 left after Tate-DeFreitas hit a jumper in the paint.

It was Hampton's largest lead of the contest.

Saint Peter's answered with a 7-1 spurt to cut the lead to 56-25 with 8:51 remaining, but the Lady Pirates stopped the momentum from carrying any further; in fact, Hampton grew the lead again to 64-31 with 4:01 remaining after Bennett hit a pair of free throws.

The Peacocks scored the game's last six points, but Hampton cruised to the win.

The Lady Pirates shot 35.8 percent (24-for-67) from the floor and hit 14 of their 23 free throws (60.9 percent), and Hampton held Saint Peter's to just 34.4 percent shooting (11-for-32) and scored 34 points off of 26 Peacock turnovers.

Marcia Senatus led the Peacocks (0-1) with nine points.

The Lady Pirates will be back in action on Saturday, when they play host to Southern Miss 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

Lady Pirates 2013-13 Schedule

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY PIRATES SPORTS INFORMATION