Lady Pirates Use Stifling Defense To Upend Southern Miss
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -Hampton team used its calling card - a suffocating defense - to upend Southern Mississippi in its season opener on Friday, winning 78-41 at Reed Green Coliseum.
The Lady Pirates (1-0) forced the Golden Eagles into 27 turnovers, scoring 34 points off of them. Hampton also held Southern Miss to 30.2 percent shooting (16-for-53) and held a 52-40 edge in rebounding.
Hampton out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 25-19 on the offensive end, and the Lady Pirates scored 26 second-chance points.
Southern Miss (0-1) also missed 14 of its 21 free throws.
Senior forward Keiara Avant led the Lady Pirates with a career-high 26 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore center Verdine Warner pulled down a team-high 18 rebounds - including eight on the offensive end - to go along with 17 points and four blocks.
Junior guard Nicole Hamilton also had 17 points.
Hampton's largest lead came with 2:51 to play after sophomore guard Kenia Cole (Burtonsville, Md.) hit a pair of free throws to put the Lady Pirates up 78-36.
The Lady Pirates shot 41.1 percent (30-for-73) from the floor, while hitting 17 of their 24 free throws. Hampton had nine blocks as a team, as well as 15 steals.
Carey led Southern Miss with 14 points.
For the complete story, visit www.hamptonpirates.com
Lady Bears Open Season With 72-61 Win Over UMBC; Beasley Earns 100th Career Win
BALTIMORE-Morgan State senior guard Bianca Jarrett scored a team-high 14 points and sophomore guard Tracey Carrington and senior Moneshia Davis added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to lead host Morgan State to a 72-61 non-conference win over crosstown rival UMBC on Friday evening at Hill Field House. The win ended a six-game losing skid for Morgan State to the Retrievers.
The victory also marked the 100th career win for head coach Donald Beasley at Morgan State, who ranks second on the school's all-time wins list.
Morgan State held a 45-38 rebounding advantage over UMBC with Carrington leading the way with a game-high nine rebounds. Amarah Williams added eight rebounds to go with eight points and Dinah Jones came off the bench to haul in eight boards and seven points. The Lady Bears also received a game-high eight assists-performance by Chyress Lockhart, who came off the bench and also added eight points and five rebounds.
The Lady Bears finished the game shooting 42.6 percent (29-of-68) from the floor and connected on 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line. The Retrievers shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) from the floor and 75 percent (15-of-21) from the charity stripe. UMBC also shot 6-of-19 from three-point range.
Lauren Chase led the Retrievers with a game-high 18 points and Bria White added 15.
For the complete story, visit www.morganstatebears.com
NSU Defeats Penn in Season Opener, 60-51
NORFOLK, Va. -Junior Kashay Barnes had a team high 16 points and Quineshia Leonard added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Norfolk State over Penn, 60-51, in the season opener on Friday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
Leonard had all 11 of her points and all 11 of her rebounds in the second half. She was limited to one minute of playing time in the first half due to foul trouble. Sophomore Ebony Brown had nine points off the bench and junior Rachel Gordon chipped in with a game-high 15 rebounds for NSU.
The Spartans shot 76 percent (19-of-25). NSU out-rebounded Penn 46-35 and limited the Quakers to 31.7 percent shooting.
Alyssa Barron led Penn with 22 points and seven rebounds. Keiera Ray added 14 points off the bench.
For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com
Sparkman Leads Rattlers Past Jacksonville
Four Florida A&M players scored in double figures and Kimberly Sparkman, hit a 3-pointer with 1:27 to play to lift Florida A&M to a 72-69 win over Jacksonville at Swisher Gym on Friday.
Sparkman scored the last of her 10 points on the shot which broke a 64-all tie and gave FAMU (1-0) the lead for good.
After Sparkman's shot, the Dolphins (0-1) fell behind by five at 70-65 before swimming back to within three at 70-67 with 12 second to play. The Rattlers' Keturah Martin sealed the game with a pair of free throws with eight seconds to play.
Junior Stephanie Edwards led Jacksonville with 17 points. Madison Scott had 15 and Jade Cargill 13.
FAMU's Jasmine Grice led all scorers with 26 points. Martin had 13 while Patrice Collie 12 and Sparkman 10.
For the complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com
Coppin State Routs Cheyney
BALTIMORE -- Junior Kyra Coleman led four players in double figures with 20 points and Coppin State registered its third-highest point total in school history with a 97-41 victory over Cheyney in the season opener on Friday in the Physical Education Complex.
Coleman finished the game 8-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from the free throw line to lead the Eagles. She also had four rebounds and three steals.
The 97 points scored by Coppin State is the third-highest total in school history behind only the 113 points scored against Lincoln in 1990 and the 100 points versus Eastern in 1987. The Eagles set numerous Physical Education Complex records including points scored and margin of victory.
It marked the second straight season the Eagles notched over a 50-point margin of victory against Cheyney. Last season, Coppin State defeated the Wolves 94-39.
Jaleah Holsey made 3-of-6 three-point attempts and finished with 13 points, while Leola Spotwood had 12 points and six rebounds and Shanice Maynard added 11 points and three rebounds.
Cheyney was led by Tamara Russell who had eight points, while Destiny McFarlane had seven points.
For the complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com
North Carolina A&T Falls to Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb.- North Carolina A&T had their first challenge of the season, and came up a little short as they lost to No. 18 Nebraska, 68-50, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday evening in their season opener.
Senior forward JaQuayla Berry and sophomore guard Ariel Bursey were tied for the team lead with nine points. Berry led the team with eight rebounds in the contest.
A pair of free throws from Berry pulled A&T within seven at 45-38 with 15:20 left in the game. But from there, the Aggies weren't able to clamp down on the Cornhusker (1-0) offense. Nebraska had three players record double figure scoring games.
The Aggies had a lead in the first half, as a three pointer from junior guard Tracy King gave A&T the lead at 23-22 with 4:28 left. But the Cornhuskers went on a 13-2 run in the last four minutes, as the Aggies missed seven shots, to pull ahead to a 35-25 lead at the break. The Cornhuskers made it to the free throw line 14 times, making 11 points, while the Aggies only made it to the line five times in the first half.
For the complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com