Lady Pirates Squeak Past FAMU for First MEAC Win

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- The Hampton University women's basketball team withstood a second-half push from Florida A&M Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, emerging with a 70-67 win to pick up their first conference victory of the season.

The Lady Pirates (6-3, 1-0 MEAC) have won 31 straight games against MEAC foes.

Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) led three Lady Pirates in double figures with 22 points and nine rebounds, going 10-for-22 from the floor. Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added 15 points, and sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) scored 13 points.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) dished out a team-high eight assists.

Hampton led by 11 with just over seven minutes to play, up 55-44, but Florida A&M went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 57-56 with 4:42 left after Taneka Rubin hit a 3-pointer. Hampton answered by scoring the next six points to take a 63-56 lead with 2:46 left after a pair of Tate-DeFreitas free throws.

The Lady Rattlers then went on an 11-4 run, which culminated in a layup from Jasmine Grice to tie the game at 67-67 with 41 seconds left in regulation. But Hamilton hit three free throws down the stretch, and FAMU turned the ball over on its last two possessions.

The Lady Pirates jumped out to an 8-0 lead to open the game, taking that lead on a Tate-DeFreitas layup with 17:16 left in the half, before Grice answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to 8-6 at the 16:26 mark.

Kimberly Sparkman added a trey at the 12:14 mark to cut the Lady Pirates' lead to 17-13, but Hampton answered with an 8-0 run to go up 25-13 with 8:51 left in the half following a jumper from Bennett. FAMU couldn't get any closer than within nine for the rest of the half, and Hampton went into the break up 36-24.

Bennett had 16 points at the half.

The second half started much the same way the first half ended, with the Lady Pirates maintaining a 9- to 14-point lead. When redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) hit a stickback with 14:40 to play, Hampton led 45-35.

FAMU scored the next five points to cut the lead to 45-40, but Hampton answered with a 5-0 spurt of its own, going up 50-40 after a Jordan 3-point play with 9:35 remaining.

Jordan added a layup with 7:13 to play to put the Lady Pirates up 55-44.

The Lady Pirates shot 38.9 percent (28-for-72) from the floor and made two of their 18 3-pointers. Hampton went 12-for-20 (60.0 percent) from the free throw line, and the Lady Pirates scored 16 points off of 24 Florida A&M turnovers.

Hampton also held a 40-28 edge on the glass.

FAMU (6-4, 1-1 MEAC) shot 42.6 percent (20-for-47) from the floor and made eight of its 20 3-pointers. Rubin led three Lady Rattlers in double figures with 24 points, while Grice added 21 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Monday at 6 p.m. to take on Bethune-Cookman. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of www.hamptonpirates.com.
Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at

Box Score

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