LADY PIRATES SUFFER SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS, FALL TO DELAWARE STATE, 58-36

Saturday, February 9

Dover, DE

2 p.m.

Hampton University

Deleware State

LADY PIRATES SUFFER SECOND STRAIGHT LOSS, FALL TO DELAWARE STATE, 58-36

2.9.08 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DOVER, Del. – The Hampton University Lady Pirates’ basketball team dropped their second straight game, and for the second time in less than a week, the defeat was by 20 or more points.

Delaware State University, 11-12 overall and 6-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, turned a 12-point halftime lead into a 22-point romp, turning back the Lady Pirates to the tune of 58-36. The loss dropped Hampton to 12-9 on the season, 6-3 in the conference.

Delaware State led 28-16 at halftime.

Just five days earlier, the Lady Pirates suffered their worst defeat of the season, a 41-73 loss at the hands of North Carolina A&T State University and former HU head coach Pat Bibbs.

Against the DSU Lady Hornets, none of Hampton’s top guns could ignite a serious run in Saturday’s game. In fact, no Lady Pirate player scored in double-figures as the team connected on just 26.1 percent of their shots from the field. They went 0-for-8 from three-point range and committed 26 turnovers. Against N.C. A&T last Monday, the Lady Pirates committed 39 turnovers.

“Tonight I thought that we just could not get things going the way that we wanted them to early on in the game,” said HU head coach Walter Mebane. “Every team has that one night when nothing seems to go their way and tonight was ours. We will have to learn from this loss and turn around and get ready for Maryland Eastern Shore on Monday night.”

In the opening half, DSU’s Rachel Collier broke a 12-12 tie by hitting a jumper at the 8:19 mark of the period, giving her team a 14-12 lead that they’d never relinquish. When Katreem Palmer’s jumpshot with 5:27 left in the half gave the Lady Hornets a 10-point lead at 22-12, DSU would go on to lead by double-digits the remainder of the ball game.

The Lady Pirates’ struggles of the first half were just a sign of things to come in the second half. Their 12-point halftime deficit increased to 13 points three minutes into the final period when Jameka Smith hit a jumper that gave DSU a 30-17 lead at the 17:19 mark. With 2:06 left in the game, the Lady Hornets enjoyed their biggest lead of the game, a 26-point advantage that came off a Selena Galloway three-pointer. The score at that point was 56-30 in DSU’s favor.

For the game, senior guard Artavia Burns was HU’s leading scorer. She led the way for the Lady Pirates by scoring nine points. Fellow guard Laura Lewis added six points and forward Chinyere Ukoh added five.

Two players scored in double-figures for DSU, including Galloway, with 13 points, and Keyhana Wakefield, with 12.

The Lady Pirates will try to get back on a winning track when they travel to Princess Anne County, Md. to face MEAC foe Maryland Eastern Shore. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m., preceding an 8 p.m. men’s game.

For more information on the HU Lady Pirates, one can log onto Hampton’s web page at www.hamptonpirates.com, or contact the HU Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5757.

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