MEAC Tournament: Second-Half Surge Lifts HU Lady Pirates to MEAC Title Game

NORFOLK, Virginia  –  For roughly 27 minutes, Friday's MEAC Tournament semifinal between the Hampton University women's basketball team and Savannah State was tight, grind-it-out affair, before the Lady Pirates surged ahead at Norfolk Scope at pulled away to a 65-49 win.

The top-seeded Lady Pirates (27-4) will advance to Saturday's title game at 3 p.m. against Coppin State. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com and on ESPNU via tape-delay (airing Sunday at 11 a.m.).

This will be Hampton's sixth straight MEAC championship game appearance.

Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) had another monster game for the Lady Pirates, who won their 17th straight game, pouring in a game-high 29 points and grabbing a career-high 18 rebounds – while also dishing out four assists and grabbing three steals.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added 16 points, while junior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) poured in 12 points on four 3-pointers – three in the second half.

"Tough, tough game," head coach David Six said. "Savannah State came to play. [It was] really a defensive struggle for large parts of the game. We were able to make some adjustments at halftime, Kenia loosened them up a bit with some threes, Malia hit a couple shots, and Bennett got going.

"I thought that was the difference in the game."

The Lady Pirates scored the game's first six points, thanks to 3-pointers from Cole and senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.), but Savannah State went on a 7-2 spurt to cut the lead to 8-7 at the 14:05 mark after a trey from Kenyata Hendrix.

Hampton responded with a 10-2 run, taking an 18-9 lead after Bennett hit a pair of free throws at the 7:45 mark. The Lady Tigers then went on a 12-2 run of their own to tie the game at 21-21 on a layup from Jasmine Norman.

Bennett, who recorded her 14th double-double of the season, hit two free throws with 55 seconds left in the half to put Hampton up 24-21, but Savannah State clawed back yet again and tied the game at 25-25 at the half.

Bennett had 13 points and 10 rebounds at the break.

Savannah State cut Hampton's lead to 30-29 with a jumper from Norman with 17:35 left in the contest, but the Lady Pirates scored the next 10 points to take a 40-29 lead with 13:09 left after a trey from Cole. Bennett and Cole combined to score Hampton's first 15 points of the second half.

Ezinne Kalu hit a layup with 12:10 left to cut Hampton's lead to 40-31, but that was the last time Savannah State closed within single digits; Hampton maintained a 10- to 13-point lead for the middle portions of the second half, before Bria Dorsey cut the lead to 46-36 with 6:00 left.

Hampton scored the next seven points, going up 53-36 with 4:13 left after a trey from Tate-DeFreitas.

From that point forward, Savannah State could not get any closer than within 14 points. The Lady Tigers went from the 12:12 mark of the second half to the 3:46 mark without a field goal.

Despite how tight the game was through the first half and beyond, Savannah State never held a lead.

The Lady Pirates, winners of their last 48 games against MEAC foes, shot 38.0 percent (19-for-50) from the floor – but shot at a 54.2-percent clip (13-for-24) in the second half. Hampton also went 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from behind the arc and 20-for-28 (71.4 percent) at the free throw line.

Hampton also out-rebounded Savannah State 41-31.

Savannah State (19-14) shot just 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the floor and went 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Norman led the Lady Tigers with 12 points.

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