Hampton Lady Pirates Upend NSU Spartans, Win MEAC Again

HAMPTON, Virginia – Fourth verse, same as the first.

With an 83-54 win over Norfolk State Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, the Hampton University women's basketball team clinched its fourth straight MEAC regular-season title – and the corresponding No. 1 seed in the MEAC Tournament (March 10-15, Norfolk Scope).

Fitting, since the Lady Pirates (24-4, 15-0 MEAC) lowered the banners celebrating last season's championship as well.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) led the festivities with 19 points, while senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) scored 17 points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 18 points – including four 3-pointers in the second half – and junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) poured in 16 points.

Hampton jumped out to its 14th straight win in short order, opening the game with a 13-0 run that ended in a jumper from Tate-DeFreitas at the 16:07 mark. Norfolk State answered with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 15-7, before the Lady Pirates scored the next 14 points.

A Hamilton layup at the 10:12 mark ended that run and gave the Lady Pirates a 29-7 lead.

Norfolk State cut the lead to 29-14 at the 8:16 mark, when Dominique Harper ended a 7-0 Spartans run with a free throw. But that was as close as the Spartans would get in the remainder of the half, and Hampton used a 9-2 run to take a 38-16 lead with 5:41 left in the half after a Tate-DeFreitas trey.

Cole's layup with 39 seconds left in the half sent the Lady Pirates into the break with a 44-23 lead.

The Spartans only managed six first-half field goals.

The offensive struggles continued for Norfolk State in the second half, despite seven field goals in the first eight minutes. Koryn Lawrence hit a layup with 12:18 left to cut Hampton's lead to 56-40, but that was the last field goal for Norfolk State but Ebony Brown hit a layup with 1:41 remaining.

All 10 Norfolk State points in the interim came at the free throw line.

A free throw from Logan Powell at the 9:47 mark cut Hampton's lead to 58-45, but a 10-1 Lady Pirates run grew the lead to 68-46 with 6:54 remaining after a free throw from Bennett. That run included back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Hamilton.

A layup from sophomore guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) with 2:42 left gave the Lady Pirates an 80-50 lead, and Hampton had its largest lead of the game with 1:01 to play, after freshman guard Bayley Coleman-Cox (Durham, N.C.) hit a trey to put Hampton up 83-52.

The Lady Pirates shot 34.6 percent (27-for-78) from the floor and made 10 of their 26 3-pointers (38.5 percent). Hampton also forced Norfolk State into 21 turnovers, converting them into 22 points.

Hampton also held a 32-22 edge in points in the paint.

Norfolk State (11-14, 7-7 MEAC) shot just 23.8 percent (15-for-63) from the floor and made just two of its nine 3-pointers. The Spartans did hold a 57-52 edge in rebounding.

Powell led the Spartans with 18 points.

The Lady Pirates will close the regular season on Thursday at the HU Convocation Center, celebrating Senior Night against North Carolina A&T 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 ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS