Hampton Lady Pirates Stifle Delaware State in Road Win

DOVER, Delaware  --  The Hampton University women's basketball team stifled Delaware State all afternoon on Saturday in Memorial Hall en route to a 79-39 win to remain unbeaten in conference play.

In fact, the Lady Pirates (12-4, 3-0 MEAC) have won their last 33 games against MEAC foes, including the conference tournament, dating back to the 2011-12 season.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) led all scorers with 29 points on 10-for-22 shooting and a 7-for-10 effort from the free throw line. Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 25 points and nine rebounds, reaching 500 rebounds for her career.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.

After the Lady Hornets took an early 2-0 lead, the Lady Pirates scored the next seven points to go up 7-2 at the 17:37 mark after a jumper from Tate-DeFreitas. Tierra Hawkins hit a jumper at the 9:29 mark to cut Hampton's lead to 17-12, but the Lady Hornets would go cold after that, as the Lady Pirates went on a 19-3 run, taking a 36-15 lead with 3:51 left in the half on a pair of Tate-DeFreitas free throws.

Raven Bankston hit a trey at the 2:58 mark, ending Delaware State's nearly seven-minute drought.

Hampton outscored Delaware State 5-1 over the remainder of the half, heading into the locker room with a 41-19 lead. Tate-DeFreitas had a team-high 19 points at the break, while Bennett had 12 points after the first 20 minutes.

The second half was more of the same, as Delaware State went until the 14:43 mark without a field goal – until ankston hit a layup to cut Hampton's lead to 49-22. Hampton answered by scoring nine of the next 12 points, taking a 58-25 lead on a trey from junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) with 10:40 left.

A Bennett layup with 5:22 left gave the Lady Pirates a 68-32 lead, and sophomore guard Blake Jenkines (Clarksville, Tenn.) hit a pair of free throws with 3:49 left to play to put Hampton up 72-33.

Redshirt-freshman guard Sade King (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) gave the Lady Pirates their largest lead of the game, hitting a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:38 left to put Hampton up 79-37.

Delaware State had five field goals and six turnovers in the second half.

The Lady Pirates shot 42.9 percent (24-for-56) from the floor and hit six of their 14 3-pointers. Hampton also held a 53-45 edge on the glass, and the Lady Pirates turned 21 Delaware State turnovers into 19 points.

Delaware State (4-10, 0-3 MEAC) shot just 20.3 percent (12-for-59) from the floor – going 5-for-33 (15.2 percent) in the second half – and made just one of their six 3-pointers.

Bankston led the Lady Hornets with 17 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Saturday, when they take on Coppin 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.

Box Score

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION