HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University women's basketball team established control early Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, stifling Howard offensively en route to a 63-40 win.

In the win, Hampton snapped the Lady Bison's nine-game winning streak and handed Howard its first conference loss. The Lady Pirates (11-3, 3-0 MEAC) also established season lows in opponent's field goal percentage and points allowed in a half.

The Lady Pirates have also won 15 straight games at home, as well as five straight over Howard.

Sophomore forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) led the Lady Pirates with a career-high 23 points on 11-for-16 shooting, while also tying her career high with 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Senior guard Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) poured in 14 points and dished out a season-high-tying 11 assists for her second straight double-double.

Senior forward Melanie Warner (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 11 points and eight rebounds.

After both teams went scoreless for the first 4:27 of the game, the Lady Pirates got on the board at the 15:33 mark after a 3-pointer from Jenkins. Hampton would go on to score 10 unanswered points, going up 10-0 after a Bennett 3-pointer at the 12:31 mark.

Howard didn't score until Saadia Doyle drained a jumper with 12:16 left in the half.

Bennett added a layup with 3:18 left in the first half to extend Hampton's lead to 24-3, before Howard closed the half with a 5-2 spurt – with all five points coming from Tamoria Holmes.

The Lady Pirates led 26-8 at the half, holding Howard to just 8.7 percent shooting (2-for-23) from the floor. Both team turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, but Hampton held an 8-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Hampton also held a 25-14 edge on the boards in the first half.

Bennett had 13 points at the half on 6-for-10 shooting to lead all scorers to go along with a team-high seven rebounds at the break.

Bennett went on to score six of Hampton's first eight points of the second half, culminating in a jumper at the 13:06 mark that put the Lady Pirates up 41-16. Warner scored five straight points a few minutes later, draining a trey before sinking a layup – off a feed from Bennett – with 10:29 to play to put Hampton up 48-18.

Bennett sank a jumper at the 9:05 mark to put Hampton up 50-20, matching its largest lead of the night.

The Lady Pirates shot 40.0 percent (22-for-55) from the floor, making four of their 14 3-pointers and 15 of their 17 free throws. Hampton also held a 45-32 edge on the boards, a 32-12 advantage in the paint and a 16-6 edge in points off turnovers.

Howard (10-6, 2-1 MEAC) shot just 25.0 percent (13-for-52) from the floor and made just one of its 13 3-pointers – the fifth opponent Hampton has held to just one 3-pointer this season. The Lady Bison also went just 13-for-21 from the free throw line.

Doyle, the Preseason MEAC Player of the Year, led Howard with 20 points, while Holmes added 12 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on Coppin State at 2 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-581, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.