TOLEDO, Ohio – The Hampton University women's basketball team opened the inaugural Toledo Invite on Thursday afternoon with a 49-42 loss to Prairie View A&M at the Savage Arena in what was a defensive struggle.

The Lady Pirates (7-4) had their three-game winning streak snapped and will face either Toledo or Evansville on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) led the Lady Pirates with 18 points and nine rebounds, falling just shy of her seventh double-double of the season. Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added eight points.

PVAMU opened the game up 5-0 following a Gabrielle Scott 3-pointer at the 15:04 mark, but the Lady Panthers (3-5) would not score again until the 2:08 mark; in the meantime, the Lady Pirates scored 16 unanswered points.

Hampton went up 16-5 with 2:34 left in the half after an Avant layup.

The Lady Pirates led 19-9 at the half after holding PVAMU to just three first-half field goals and turning the Lady Panthers over 17 times.

Avant had a game-high eight points at the break.

Avant gave the Lady Pirates a 25-12 lead with 16:39 left in the second half with a layup, before PVAMU answered with five straight points to cut the lead to 25-17. After Avant put the Lady Pirates up 27-17 with a layup at the 13:14 mark, the Lady Panthers went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 27-26 with 10:41 to play.

Junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) hit a jumper – her only basket of the game – with 9:05 to play to put Hampton up 33-28, but the Lady Panthers went on a 6-0 run to take a 34-33 lead with 6:50 to play.

Avant hit a layup with 6:12 to play to put Hampton back up 35-34, before PVAMU scored four straight to take a 38-35 lead with 5:11 to play. A Hamilton 3-pointer with 4:13 to play tied the game at 38-38.

The Lady Panthers answered with five straight points, going up 43-38 with 2:26 to play after Scott hit a jumper. Freshman guard Shellis Hampton (Grand Rapids, Mich.) hit a trey with 57 seconds left to cut PVAMU's lead to 43-42, but the Lady Panthers closed the game on a 6-0 run.

Hampton shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor, hitting two of its 17 3-pointers and six of its 14 free throws. The Lady Pirates scored PVAMU into 27 turnovers, but only converted those into 13 points.

PVAMU shot 33.3 percent (17-for-51) from the floor and went 4-for-11 from behind the arc. The Lady Panthers also held a 45-36 edge on the glass.

Scott led the Lady Panthers with 20 points.

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.