Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Hampton University women's basketball team trailed at the half, but outscored Jacksonville University by 15 points in the second half on Saturday en route to a 68-55 win at Swisher Gymnasium.

The Lady Pirates (2-0) have won 26 of their last 29 games, dating back to last season, and they also avenged last season's 49-42 loss to the Dolphins.

Senior guard Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) led the Lady Pirates with 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting and a 5-for-5 effort from the free throw line. In fact, four Lady Pirates scored in double figures; junior forward Ariel Phelps (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, while sophomore forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Junior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting, while senior forward Melanie Warner (Tallahassee, Fla.) had nine points to go along with a team-high 15 rebounds.

Jacksonville held a 32-30 lead at the break, thanks in large part to 13 points from Tracie Sneed, who went 4-for-5 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes. The Dolphins jumped out to a 7-2 lead to open the game, before the Lady Pirates scored 10 unanswered points, taking a 12-7 lead at the 13:48 mark on a Jenkins jumper.

Jade Cargill gave Jacksonville the lead back at the 10:47 mark, sinking a jumper to put the Dolphins up 17-16. A 10-2 Jacksonville run followed, with the Dolphins going up 27-18 after back-to-back treys and a layup from Sneed.

The Lady Pirates clawed back, though; after Jacksonville went up 30-24 with 2:49 left in the half on a Sneed 3-pointer, Hampton went on a 6-2 run to close the half.

Bennett tied the game at 32-32 at the 18:16 mark of the second half with a jumper, and the score would be tied twice more before Avant gave Hampton a 38-36 lead with 16:48 to play with a jumper. From there, the Lady Pirates began to pull away, jumping to a 54-43 lead with 9:46 to play on a Warner trey.

Jacksonville cut Hampton's lead to single digits, 57-48, with 7:49 to play on a Crystal Bell jumper, but the Lady Pirates pulled away again – leading by as many as 16 after Avant sank two free throws with 1:30 left in the game.

The Lady Pirates shot 38.5 percent (25-for-65) from the floor – including a 50.0-percent clip in the second half. Hampton also had a stellar afternoon at the free throw line, hitting 16 of its 17 attempts (94.1 percent) from the charity stripe.

Hampton also held a 45-36 edge in rebounds, while also forcing the Dolphins (0-3) into 20 turnovers – scoring 14 points off of them. The Lady Pirates also led in points in the paint (34-28) and second-chance points (14-11).

Sneed led Jacksonville with 19 points, though she only scored six in the second half.

The Dolphins shot 35.6 percent (21-for-59) from the floor, but shot just 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) in the second half.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, when they head to Gainesville, Fla. to take on the University of Florida at 7 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.