HU Lady Pirates Pour on the Offense, Dominate Morgan State

MALIA TATE-DEFREITAS
(Courtesy: Hampton U. Athletics)

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- Buckets came early and often for the Hampton University women's basketball team on Monday evening, as the Lady Pirates cruised to a 99-45 win over conference rival Morgan State at the HU Convocation Center.

The Lady Pirates (14-4, 5-0 MEAC) have won their last 35 games against MEAC foes.

Hampton scored the most points in head coach David Six's tenure, bettering the 98 points the Lady Pirates scored against Utah State back on Nov. 29. It was Hampton's largest margin of victory since the Lady Pirates defeated Chicago State 87-35 on Nov. 18 of last season.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.), the two-time reigning MEAC Player of the Week, led four Lady Pirates in double figures with 22 points – recording her seventh 20-point game of the season behind a 7-for-15 effort from the floor (and 4-for-7 behind the arc).

Junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) added 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting (4-for-5 from distance), while senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) chipped in 18 points on 8-for-9 shooting and senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

She also had six assists and three blocks.

After Morgan State scored the first basket of the game, the Lady Pirates went on a 6-0 spurt to take a 6-2 lead after a free throw from Bennett. The Lady Bears cut the lead to 6-5 on a Dinah Jones 3-point play at the 16:51 mark, but it would be all Hampton from there.

A 12-2 Hampton run gave the Lady Pirates an 18-7 lead at the 13:55 mark after a layup from Tate-DeFreitas, and Tate-DeFreitas added another layup at the 8:40 mark to grow the run to 28-7 and give the Lady Pirates a 34-12 lead.

Tracey Carrington hit two free throws with 5:12 left in the half to cut the lead to 38-20, before the Lady Pirates closed the half on a 14-5 run, taking a 52-25 lead into the half after a layup from senior forward Brascia Audain (St. Kitts, Virgin Islands) with 1:12 left.

Tate-DeFreitas led all scorers with 17 points at the break.

The Lady Pirates opened the second half on a 19-9 run, taking a 71-34 lead with 13:30 left after a 3-pointer from Tate-DeFreitas. Carrington cut the lead to 73-38 with a layup with 12:31 left, but the Lady Pirates responded emphatically with 20 straight points, going up 93-38 after Cole hit two free throws with 5:14 left.

After Carrington's layup, Morgan State did not convert another field goal until Danielle Forrest hit a layup with 3:47 left – cutting Hampton's lead to 93-41.

Redshirt-junior guard Lauren Johnson (Cairo, Ga.) gave the Lady Pirates their largest lead of the game with 2:31 left, converting a layup to put Hampton up 97-41.

The Lady Pirates shot 46.3 percent (37-for-80) from the floor and made 10 of their 24 3-pointers (41.7 percent) – marking the second straight game in which they made 10 or more 3-pointers. Hampton out-rebounded the Lady Bears 52-46, and the Lady Pirates turned 31 Morgan State turnovers into 45 points.

Hampton also held a 10-1 edge in blocks and a 20-4 edge in steals.

Morgan State (2-15, 0-4 MEAC) shot just 26.4 percent (14-for-53) from the floor and went 0-for-4 from behind the arc.

Carrington led the Lady Bears with 23 points, despite shooting just 6-for-19 from the floor.

The Lady Pirates will kick off four straight road games on Saturday, when they head to Savannah, Ga. to take on Savannah State at 4 p.m. For more informatiwww.hamptonpirates.com.
on on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at

Box Score

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS