Hampton Lady Pirates Win Offensive Struggle Over UMES

HAMPTON, Virginia – The Hampton University women's basketball team grinded its way to another 20-win season on Monday evening, holding off Maryland Eastern Shore 54-35 at the HU Convocation Center.

The Lady Pirates (20-4, 11-0 MEAC) have won 20 games for the fifth straight season.

Hampton, which is on a 10-game winning streak, has won 41 straight games against MEAC foes (including conference tournament games) and 17 straight home MEAC games. The Lady Pirates tied their season low for points allowed in a game.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) was the only Lady Pirate in double figures, scoring a game-high 25 points – 18 in the first half – on eight field goals, three 3-pointers, and six free throws. Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added eight points.

Redshirt-freshman guard Sade King (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored seven points off the bench, and redshirt-sophomore forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.) blocked a season-high five shots.

UMES held an 8-7 lead at the 13:18 mark of the first half after Shawnee Sweeney hit a 3-pointer, before the Lady Pirates went on a 15-0 run to take a 22-8 lead with 7:08 left in the half after a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.).

The Lady Hawks didn't connect on a field goal until Mariah McCoy hit a trey with 6:01 left in the half to cut the lead to 22-11, before senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) hit a jumper to give Hampton a 24-11 lead with 5:46 left.

Hamilton hit two free throws at the 4:38 mark to put Hampton up 26-13, before adding a layup at the 3:46 mark to put the Lady Pirates up 28-15.

King's layup with 38 seconds left gave Hampton its largest lead of the half at 32-15.

Taryana Kelly hit a jumper with 15 seconds left, sending the Lady Pirates into the locker room with a 32-17 lead. UMES shot just 12.5 percent (4-for-32) from the floor in the first half and turned the ball over 12 times.

The Lady Pirates opened the second half by scoring 11 of the first 16 points, taking a 43-22 lead with 12:44 left to play after a layup from Tate-DeFreitas. UMES answered with a 9-2 run, cutting the lead to 45-31 with 8:28 left after a free throw from Sweeney.

Hamilton stopped the run with a jumper with 6:35 left, putting the Lady Pirates up 47-31 – then, after a Kelly layup cut the lead to 47-33, Hamilton hit a layup of her own to give Hampton a 49-33 lead with 4:10 remaining.

Kelly's layup, which came at the 5:39 mark, was UMES' last field goal of the game.

Hamilton hit a trey with 2:23 left to put Hampton up 52-35, then Hobgood added two free throws with 1:26 left to push the game to its final margin.

The Lady Pirates shot 26.3 percent (18-for-72) from the floor, but out-rebounded UMES 60-57 and turned 21 Hawks turnovers into 17 points.

UMES (5-16, 1-8 MEAC) shot just 12.5 percent (9-for-67) from the floor, managing just four field goals in the first half and five field goals in the second half. Six of the Lady Hawks' nine field goals came from behind the arc.

Sweeney led UMES with 15 points.

The Lady Pirates will cross the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel on Saturday to take on Norfolk State in Echols Hall 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

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