Hampton Lady Pirates Snap Skid With Clutch Win Over Columbia

HAMPTON, Virginia -- A fourth quarter rally and late defensive stand that saw Columbia miss two shots in the last five seconds helped Hampton snap a six-game losing skid with a 60-58 win on Wednesday night.

With the win, head coach David Six tied the school's all-time wins mark with his 183rd in his nine-year career. He ties the mark held by James Sweat who went 183-40 from 1981-88. Six is now 183-87 in his ninth year at Hampton.

In the fourth quarter, a layup from Columbia's Madison Pack put the Lions ahead 48-43 with 6:50 left, but Hampton wouldn't go away quietly. Ashley Bates hit a pair of free throws at the 5:27 mark to put Hampton back up 49-48. That run was capped by a pair of Jephany Brown free throws with 5:03 left as Hampton finished an 8-0 flurry to lead 51-48.

BOX SCORE

Columbia regained the lead as leading scorer Camille Zimmerman converted a three-point play to lead 53-51 with 4:05 left. Once again Hampton went on a spurt scoring the next seven points to take a 58-53 lead with 2:20 left on a stickback by Bates. Brown got the run going with a jumper and then a 3-ball from the corner before Bates put back a missed 3-pointer.

The Lions responded with the next five points as Zimmerman went 1-of-2 from the line with 53 seconds left to tie the game at 58. Monnazjea Finney-Smith went 1-of-2 with 45 seconds left to put Hampton up 59-58 and K'lynn Willis also went 1-of-2 with 11 seconds left for a 60-58 lead.

Columbia had two shots in the last five seconds as Zimmerman missed a baseline jumper and Stephanie Flynn missed her putback attempt from the foul line.

Both teams struggled in the first quarter as Hampton (3-9) scored the first six points as a layup from Finney-Smith gave the Lady Pirates a 6-0 lead with 5:20 left. Columbia scored the next seven points to take a 7-6 lead on a 3-point play from Zimmerman with 59 seconds left. Finney-Smith scored on another layup to put Hampton back up 8-7 after one.

In the second, the lead changed hands six times in the first seven minutes as a free throw from Allina Starr put Hampton up 19-16 with 2:44 left. Starr hit two more free throws with 1:44 left to keep Hampton up by three at 21-18, but Camille Zimmerman hit a pair of foul shots with nine seconds left to trim the halftime score to 21-20.

Columbia scored the first eight points of the third quarter to take its largest lead of the night at 28-21 on a 3-pointer from Paige Tippet with 6:57 left. Tippet answered a triple from Madison Pack to put Columbia up.

Hampton turned its press up a notch and worked back into the contest trailing 35-34 with 3:09 left on a layup from Dejane' James. Two Starr free throws with 26 seconds left followed by a steal and layup with 18 seconds left brought Hampton to 42-41 heading into the fourth.

Brown was the leading scorer for Hampton with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Bates added 12 points, six rebounds and four steals. Hampton outrebounded Columbia 44-42, but held an overwhelming 23-7 advantage on the offensive boards. Defensively, the Lady Pirates forced 24 turnovers and had 14 steals.

Zimmerman was the lone double figure scorer for Columbia with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Hampton now turns its attention to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action as they'll visit Princess Anne, Md. to take on Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday at 2 pm.

For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS