Sunday, December 1, 2013

Hampton Lady Pirates Beat Santa Clara, Win CSUN Tourney Title

NORTHRIDGE, California  –  For the second straight day, freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas and senior forward Alyssa Bennett had monster games, and on Saturday, it netted the Hampton University women's basketball team the Cal State Northridge Radisson Hotel Chatsworth Thanksgiving Classic.

The Lady Pirates (5-2) won the title by defeating Santa Clara 70-48.

Bennett (Hampton, Va.) was named Tournament MVP after pouring in a career-high 31 points (20 in the second half) on 14-for-30 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) was named to the All-Tournament Team after scoring 25 points.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) dished out 11 assists (to go along with her eight points and seven rebounds), and redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The Lady Pirates got off to a slow start, as Santa Clara took an 11-5 lead with 15:41 left in the first half – and the Broncos later took a 16-7 lead at the 14:14 mark on a 3-pointer from Montana Walters.

But Hampton answered with a 15-2 run, storming back to take a 22-18 lead at the 9:15 mark after Hamilton scored on a fastbreak layup following a turnover. The Lady Pirates never trailed again, though Santa Clara cut the lead to 25-23 at the 6:14 mark on a Nici Gidlay jumper.

The Lady Pirates scored the next nine points, going up 34-23 on a Bennett layup with 3:25 left in the half, and Hampton went into the locker room up 37-25.

Tate-DeFreitas had 16 points at the break. Bennett was also in double figures at half with 11 points.

When Marie Bertholdt hit a jumper in the paint with 15:00 to play, it cut Hampton's lead to 43-35 – but the Broncos would get no closer the rest of the night, and the Lady Pirates answered with an 8-0 run, taking a 51-35 lead with 12:45 to play on a Bennett jumper.

Bertholdt cut the lead to 53-41 with two free throws with 7:34 to play, before Hampton scored the next 15 points – including 10 straight from Bennett – to take a 68-41 lead with 3:53 left to play. Tate-DeFreitas scored the first five points of that run before Bennett went on her five-field goal tear.

Bennett and Tate-DeFreitas accounted for all 13 of Hampton's second-half field goals.

The Lady Pirates shot 37.5 percent (27-for-27) from the floor and hit seven of their 20 3-pointers (35.0 percent). Hampton also went 9-for-12 (75.0 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded Santa Clara 45-40.

Hampton also scored 19 points off of 21 Santa Clara turnovers.

The Broncos (2-5) shot just 34.5 percent (19-for-55) from the floor, but only managed eight field goals in the second half. Santa Clara only made two of its 18 3-pointers (11.1 percent) and eight of its 15 free throws (53.3 percent).

Nici Gidlay led the Broncos with 15 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Wednesday to take on American at 7 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

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