PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Hampton University women’s basketball team used a strong second half at The Palestra on Friday evening to pick up its first win of the season, as the Lady Pirates upended Penn 58-43.
The Lady Pirates improved to 1-5 on the season.
Head coach David Six, in his sixth season with the program, picked up his 128th win, making him the program’s all-time winningest Div. I coach – surpassing Patricia Cage-Bibbs.
Sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas led the way with a season-high 27 points on 12-for-24 shooting and three 3-pointers. Junior guard Ryan Jordan recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Redshirt junior forward Tyler Hobgood grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds – including nine on the offensive end – and senior guard Kenia Cole tied her career high with eight assists.
The Lady Pirates shot 32.1 percent (25-for-78) from the floor, but Hampton out-rebounded Penn 58-35 – including a 30-8 margin on the offensive glass. Hampton’s 30 offensive rebounds as a team was a season high.
Hampton also turned 18 Penn turnovers into 19 points.
The Lady Pirates out-scored the Quakers 32-12 in the second half.
A trey from Tate-DeFreitas with 12:21 left in the first half gave the Lady Pirates a 13-12 lead, but the Quakers went on a 9-0 run to take a 21-13 lead at the 8:49 mark after a pair of free throws from Melanie Lockett.
Penn held the lead for the remainder of the half, going into the locker room up 31-26.
Hampton opened the second half with a 6-1 run, tying the game at 32-32 with 16:51 left after a jumper from Jordan. A 3-pointer from Tate-DeFreitas with 15:15 left in the game gave the Lady Pirates a 35-32 lead.
That basket kicked off a 12-1 run, and Hampton took a 44-33 lead after a jumper from Jordan with 12:16 remaining. Sydney Stipanovich ended the run with a jumper, cutting the lead to 44-35, but the Lady Pirates responded with a 14-4 run, taking a 58-39 lead with 4:50 remaining after a layup from Hobgood.
Both teams went cold in the closing minutes, combining for one field goal in the final 4:49.
The Quakers (3-3) shot just 27.7 percent (13-for-47) from the floor – including a 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) clip in the second half.
Lockett led the Quakers with seven points.
The Lady Pirates wrap up their road trip on Saturday at Richmond at 7 p.m.