HAMPTON, Virginia -- In a defensive struggle reminiscent of last season's matchup, the Hampton University women's basketball team beat preseason conference favorite North Carolina A&T 54-48 at the HU Convocation Center.The Lady Pirates (8-9, 4-0 MEAC) picked up their third straight win overall, their fifth straight over the Aggies, and their 53rd straight against conference foes (including tournament games).
The Aggies (9-9, 2-3 MEAC) fell to under .500 in conference play.
Sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) led the Lady Pirates with 26 points – her 11th 20-point effort of the season – going 11-for-21 from the floor and hitting three of her five 3-pointers. She also grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Tate-DeFreitas is 66 points shy of 1,000 for her career.
Senior guard Kyani White (Manassas, Va.) added 15 points, going 7-for-10 from the floor.
The Lady Pirates shot 39.3 percent (22-for-56) from the floor and hit three of their 12 3-pointers. Hampton held a 42-35 edge on the glass and turned 18 Aggie turnovers into 14 points.
Hampton scored the game's first 10 points, taking that 10-0 lead at the 17:15 mark after a jumper from White, while North Carolina A&T missed its first six shots – not scoring until the 16:31 mark after a layup from Aprill McRae.
In fact, the Lady Pirates led by as many as 16, going up 18-2 with 14:38 left in the first half after Tate-DeFreitas drained a 3-pointer.
The Aggies scored the next seven points to cut the lead to 18-11 at the 10:35 mark, as the Lady Pirates hit a cold spell. Eboni Ross cut the lead to 20-15 with a pair of free throws with 5:36 left in the first half, before the Lady Pirates went on an 8-2 run to take a 28-17 lead at the 2:16 mark after a White layup.
But the Aggies closed the half on a 7-2 run, cutting Hampton's lead to 30-25 at the break.
Tate-DeFreitas had 15 points at the half, while White had 11.
The Aggies cut the lead to 30-29 after scoring the first four points of the second half, and a jumper from Dana Brown with 13:34 left in the contest cut Hampton's lead to 32-31. But Tate-DeFreitas answered with a trey and a fastbreak layup to put the Lady Pirates up 37-31 with 12:50 left to play.
Again, the Aggies went on a small run, cutting the lead to 37-36 after Debbie Smith hit a jumper with 9:46 left to play. A jumper from Tate-DeFreitas with 7:18 left put the Lady Pirates up 44-39.
A 5-2 spurt from the Aggies cut the lead to 46-44 with 4:15 left, but the Lady Pirates scored on back-to-back possessions, taking a 50-44 lead after redshirt junior forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.) converted an open layup after Hampton broke the full-court press.
Smith hit two free throws with 1:44 left to cut the lead to 50-47, but another Hobgood layup – and two free throws from freshman forward Kaylah Lupoe (Phoenix, Ariz.) – helped the Lady Pirates keep the Aggies at bay.
The Aggies shot 34.7 percent (17-for-49) from the floor and made four of 17 3-pointers (23.5 percent).
Ross led North Carolina A&T with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lady Pirates will return to action on Monday, hosting North Carolina Central 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 SPORTS INFORMATION
No comments:
Post a Comment