Hampton Lady Pirates Cage FAU Owls in Season Opener 72-68

FINAL SCORE: Hampton 72, Florida Atlantic 68
RECORDS: Hampton 1-0; Florida Atlantic 0-1
LOCATION: Boca Raton, Fla.
IN BRIEF:  Junior Ashley Bates scored 20 points and sophomore Mahaley Holit added 12 as the Lady Pirates held off a late flurry by the Owls for a season-opening win on Wednesday morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Hampton opened the game with three-pointers from Holit and Laren VanArsdale to take an early 6-2 lead at the 8:45 mark.  The Owls soared on a 19-5 run over the next four minutes to lead 21-13 on a triple by Tyana Robinson with 4:09 left.
• A free throw by Holit closed the first quarter bringing Hampton to down 26-20.
• In the second quarter, the lead grew to 34-27 with three minutes left on a pair of Jayla Adams free throws.  Hampton trimmed it to a 36-35 halftime deficit on a Mina Porte layup at the buzzer.
• A five point run to start the third quarter pushed Hampton to a 40-36 lead on a layup by Bates with just under eight minutes left.  Porte hit a free throw with 73 seconds left as Hampton took a 50-43 lead into the final quarter.
• Florida Atlantic cut the deficit to 54-51 on a Danneal Ford three-pointer with 8:17 remaining.  Hampton pushed the lead to eight on an triple by Alyssa Sweeney with just under six minutes left to lead 61-53. 
• A pair of Bates free throws with 25 seconds left gave them their largest lead at 71-61.  The Owls made a flurry to get as close as the final score on a paur of Juliette Gauthier free throws with three seconds left.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS

• For the second year in a row Hampton won its season opener with a three-point display as in its win over North Carolina last year they dropped 11 from behind the arc.  Wednesday Hampton was 9-for-18 in the contest.
• Bates was two off her career high with her 20 point outing on Wednesday.  She added eight boards, five steals and four assists while going 7-for-11 from the floor.
• Holit topped her career high with her 12 point outing.  She also had career bests in rebounds (6), assists (5)  and steals (3).
• As a team, Hampton was 25-of-66 from the floor (37.9%), 9-of-18 from three-point land (50%) and 13-of-23 from the foul line (56.5%).  They were outrebounded 44-42 by the Owls.
• With the win, David Six is now one win from 200 in his career as his record is now 199-91.

BOX SCORE

ATTENDANCE: 1182

UP NEXT
Hampton is off until November 16 when they host Tennessee Chattanooga in a 7pm tip at the HU Convocation Center.

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.