Hampton Lady Pirates Hold Off Rival Howard at Home

HAMPTON, Virginia – The Hampton University women's basketball used a surge in the second half to pull away from rival Howard Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, escaping to a 76-64 win to remain unbeaten in MEAC play.

The Lady Pirates (19-4, 10-0 MEAC), winners of nine straight, are one win away from their fifth straight 20-win season. Hampton has won its last 16 home MEAC games, and the Lady Pirates have won their last 40 games against MEAC foes (including conference tournament games).

Junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) led four Lady Pirates in double figures with 24 points – 20 of which came in the second half – going 8-for-15 from the floor and hitting three of her seven 3-pointers. Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 14 points and four assists.

Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) and freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) each added 13 points, and Bennett grabbed 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season.

Redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.

The game was tied at 43-43 with 13:35 left in the second half, thanks to a jumper from Cheyenne Brown, but the Lady Pirates responded by scoring 13 of the next 15 points, taking a 56-45 lead after a layup from redshirt-sophomore forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.).

Cole scored four points in that run.

Howard answered that run with the next five points, closing the gap to 56-50 on a 3-pointer from Te'Shya Helsip with 7:58 remaining, but Cole had the answer, recording a free throw, a 3-pointer, and a breakaway layup to put Hampton up 62-50 with 6:22 left in the game.

Two Bennett free throws with 3:52 left gave the Lady Pirates a 65-52 lead.

Howard went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 65-58 on a Victoria Gonzalez layup with 2:33 to go, but a Hamilton jumper 21 seconds later gave the Lady Pirates a 68-58 lead. Shavonne Duckett hit a jumper with 1:17 left to cut the lead to 70-62, but Cole answered with the dagger 20 seconds later, hitting a trey from the wing to give Hampton a 73-62 lead.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, featuring four ties and 10 lead changes. A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) gave the Lady Pirates a 19-15 lead at the 11:36 mark, before Duckett went on a personal 7-0 run to give Howard a 22-19 lead with 9:39 left in the half.

Jasmine Hill put the Bison up 25-21 with a trey at the 7:19 mark, before a 4-0 Hampton spurt tied the game at 25-25 after Cole hit two free throws. Heslip gave Howard a 28-25 lead with a 3-pointer at the 5:19 mark, but a 7-1 Hampton run put the Lady Pirates up 32-29 with 2:13 left in the half after Ward hit a jumper.

Cole gave the Lady Pirates a 36-31 lead (Hampton's largest lead of the half) with 32 seconds left in the half on a free throw, before Allese Morrison hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to cut that lead to 36-33.

Hampton took that lead into the half; the Lady Pirates are 17-0 this season when leading at halftime.

The Lady Pirates shot 35.9 percent (23-for-64) from the floor and made seven of their 22 3-pointers (31.8 percent). Hampton out-rebounded Howard 45-38, and the Lady Pirates turned 18 Howard turnovers into 18 points.

Hampton also held a 22-12 edge in points in the paint.

Howard (9-13, 5-4 MEAC) shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the floor and hit seven of its 15 3-pointers (46.7 percent).

Duckett led the Bison with 16 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Monday, taking on Maryland Eastern Shore at the HU Convocation Center at 6 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 ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS