ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS – The Hampton University women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Thursday, falling 45-34 to South Carolina to open the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) led the Lady Pirates with 13 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) added eight points. Avant had her streak of four straight double-doubles to open the season snapped.

The Gamecocks opened the game on a 5-0 run, before the Lady Pirates (4-1) scored the next four points, closing to within 5-4 at the 14:10 mark after a pair of free throws from junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.).

South Carolina answered with five straight points to go up 10-4 with 9:47 left in the first half.

After Avant hit a layup at the 6:44 mark to cut the Gamecocks' lead to 10-6, South Carolina answered with seven straight points to go up 17-6 at the 3:30 mark following a tip-in from Aleighsa Welch.

Hampton closed the gap to four at the 1:41 mark of the first half after a Hamilton layup cut South Carolina's lead to 17-13. Asia Dozier hit a pair of free throws at the 1:21 mark to give the Gamecocks at 19-13 lead – the advantage they took into the half.

South Carolina opened the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 28-15 lead with 16:15 to play following a 3-pointer from Ieasia Walker. The Lady Pirates closed the gap to single digits on three occasions – including with 7:15 left to play, when a Bennett trey cut the Gamecocks' lead to 36-27.

Welch answered with a layup at the 6:08 mark to put South Carolina up 40-27. Khadijah Sessions later added a layup with 2:08 to play to give the Gamecocks their largest lead of the game at 44-30.

The Lady Pirates shot just 19.3 percent (11-for-57) from the floor, making two of their 12 3-pointers (16.7 percent) and 10 of their 16 free throws (62.5 percent).

The Gamecocks (5-0) shot 32.6 percent from the floor, making 15 of their 46 shots. South Carolina also made five of its 13 3-point attempts and went just 10-for-27 (37.0 percent) from the free throw line. The Gamecocks out-rebounded the Lady Pirates 57-32.

South Carolina committed 29 turnovers, resulting in 14 Hampton points.

Welch led the Gamecocks with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lady Pirates will take on DePaul on Friday at 1:15 p.m. EST as the Paradise Jam continues. 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.