WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hampton University women's basketball team survived a scare to pick up its sixth straight win on Monday, beating Howard 52-39 at Burr Gymnasium to sweep the season series.

The Lady Pirates (15-3, 7-0 MEAC) have won 20 straight over conference opponents.

Sophomore forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) led the Lady Pirates with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while senior guard Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) added 12 points and nine assists. Junior forward Ariel Phelps (Virginia Beach, Va.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Hampton took an 11-5 lead with 14:23 left in the first half after senior guard Choicetta McMillian (Fairfield, Texas) drained a 3-pointer, but the Lady Bison answered with seven straight points to take a 12-11 lead at the 10:29 mark on a trey form Tamoria Holmes.

Howard would not score for the rest of the half following that basket.

The Lady Pirates, meanwhile, scored 12 straight, including back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) and a pair of buckets in the paint from Phelps.

Hamilton hit a pair of free throws with 3:18 left in the half to give the Lady Pirates a 23-12 lead – an advantage they took into the locker room.

Hamilton led Hampton with eight points at the break, while Phelps had a team-high six rebounds at halftime. The Lady Pirates shot 34.8 percent (8-for-23) in the first half, connecting on four of their 10 3-pointers and out-rebounding Howard 21-20.

Howard shot just 5-for-30 (16.7 percent) in the first half. Holmes had five points at the break.

Hampton, which suffocated Howard defensively all night long, took a 40-25 lead with 11:13 to play after McMillian drained a jumper to cap an 8-0 Lady Pirates run. Bennett added a putback at the 7:56 mark to put the Lady Pirates up 44-30.

Howard scored six of the next eight points, though, pulling within 10, 46-36, with 4:31 to play after a layup from Saadia Doyle. Jenkins put Hampton back up 48-36 with a jumper in the lane at the 3:26 mark, but Howard scored three straight to close the gap to 48-39 on a Doyle jumper with 3:03 to play.

Jenkins and Bennett each hit jumpers in the closing minutes to score the last four points of the game and clinch the victory for the Lady Pirates.

Hampton shot 37.5 percent (18-for-48) from the floor, hitting five of its 12 3-pointers and going 11-for-15 from the free throw line. The Lady Pirates held a 39-35 edge on the boards, and Hampton is undefeated this season when out-rebounding its opponents.

Howard shot just 23.6 percent (13-for-55) from the floor, hitting just one of its 15 34-pointers – the sixth time this season the Lady Pirates have held an opponent to just one made 3-pointer. The Lady Bison went just 12-for-18 from the free throw line.

Doyle led Howard (13-7, 5-2 MEAC) with 17 points, while Holmes added 10.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they return to the HU Convocation Center to take on Coppin State at 4 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.