COLUMBIA, SC – Hampton University forced 26 Saint Peter's turnovers and converted them into 36 points as the Lady Pirates scored their first win of the season defeating Saint Peter's 71-42 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge.
 
The first quarter saw Hampton jump out to a 7-0 lead on a Malia Tate-DeFreitas 3-pointer with 6:16 left.  A layup from Tate-DeFreitas took the advantage to 11-3 with 3:39 left before Saint Peter's closed the quarter on an 11-4 flurry as a Imani Martinez bank shot at the buzzer closed the quarter with Hampton up 15-14.
 
In the second quarter, Hampton forced eight turnovers and survived a 3-point show from the Peacocks who hit all four of their second quarter field goals from behind the arc.  The first half saw Saint Peter's hit nine field goals and eight of them were from 3-point land.  K'lynn Willis had 11 of her season high 16 points in the period.
 
Hampton (1-4) got out on the 3-point shooters in the third quarter as the Peacocks cut the deficit to 41-33 on a pair of free throws from Talah Hughes with 7:33 left in the quarter.  The Lady Pirates closed the quarter on a 15-3 run to lead 56-36 on a free throw from Willis to end the period.  Saint Peter's was 3-of-12 from the floor in the period.
 
It was close to the same in the fourth as Hampton forced the Peacocks into a 3-for-20 performance as Hampton pushed the lead to as much as 32 points with 4:37 left on a free throw from Jephany Brown.   The Lady Pirates opened the period on a 12-0 run before a Zoe Pero jumper stopped the drought for Saint Peter's (0-3).
 
Hampton was paced by Tate-DeFreitas with a season-high 28 points and four steals.  She went over the 2,000 career point mark on a reverse layup with 3:32 left in the first period.  Tate-DeFreitas is now seventh on the career Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference scoring list with 2,020 career points and is 21 from moving into sixth place.
 
Joining her in double figures was Willis with a season-high 16 and Monnazjea Finney-Smith with 10.   Hampton had season-highs in steals (15) and blocks (10).   As a team, the Lady Pirates were 25-of-69 from the floor (36.2%), 6-of-14 from 3-point land (42.9%) and 15-of-23 from the line (65.2%).
 
Hampton finishes play Columbia on Tuesday afternoon with a 5pm tip against the Black Bears of Maine.
 
For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5906 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.