PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – The Hampton University women's basketball team found itself down by 14 points at halftime Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, but the Lady Pirates stormed back in the second half to beat Drexel 50-47.It was the third straight win for the Lady Pirates (8-3).
Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) led the Lady Pirates with 18 points – 12 of which came in the second half – and a team-high six assists and three blocks. Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 13 points and a team-high 14 rebounds.
Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added 11 points, and redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed 13 rebounds.
Drexel led by six with 3:48 to play, 45-39, before Hamilton scored six straight points – a layup, a jumper, and another layup with 1:11 left to tie the game at 45-45. Tate-DeFreitas gave the Lady Pirates their first lead of the night with two free throws with 1:03 left, putting Hampton up 47-45.
Sarah Curran tied the game at 47-47 with a layup with 50 seconds left, before Bennett hit a free throw with 32 seconds left to give Hampton a 48-47 lead.
Hamilton knocked down a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left, and Meghan Creighton's 3-pointer at the buzzer sailed long to complete the Lady Pirates' comeback.
Drexel led 32-18 at the break, closing the first half with an 11-4 run after Hamilton cut the Dragons' lead to 21-14 at the 5:44 mark with a fastbreak layup. Rachel Pearson was a big reason for Drexel's early success, hitting five 3-pointers in the first half.
She had 17 points at the break.
But the Lady Pirates opened the second half by holding Drexel scoreless until the 12:29 mark, when Pearson hit a layup to end a 9-0 Hampton run and give the Dragons a 34-27 lead. But that was Pearson's only basket of the second half.
Bennett hit a jumper at the 10:16 mark to cut the lead to 34-31, but Drexel held the Lady Pirates at bay, leading by as many as six on several occasions – including a 45-39 edge with 3:48 to play after Curran hit a pair of free throws.
The Lady Pirates shot 30.9 percent (21-for-68) from the floor and made just two of their 22 3-pointers, but Hampton held a 45-39 edge on the glass and forced Drexel into 20 turnovers – which turned into 13 Hampton points.
Drexel (4-6) shot 35.4 percent (17-for-48) from the floor, but only shot 25.0 percent (6-for-24) in the second half. After going 6-for-9 from distance in the first half, the Dragons were just 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the second half.
Pearson led Drexel with 19 points, but only scored two after the half.
The Lady Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Saturday to take on Kansas State at 4 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.
COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
No comments:
Post a Comment