SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Hampton University women's basketball team got back into the win column Saturday afternoon at the Oscar Strahan Coliseum, holding off a second-half comeback and taking a 72-63 win over Texas State.

The Lady Pirates improved to 3-1 on the season.

Freshman guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) had the game of her young career, pouring in 29 points on 9-for-19 shooting, going 3-for-5 from distance and hitting all eight of her free throws. Senior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 17 points.

Senior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) grabbed a team- and career-high 10 rebounds.

The Lady Pirates took a 65-42 lead with 8:01 to play, taking their largest lead of the game after a jumper from Bennett. But Texas State responded with a 17-2 run, cutting Hampton's lead to 67-59 with 2:51 to play after Ashley Ezeh hit a pair of free throws.

Junior forward Brascia Audain (St. Kitts, Virgin Islands) converted a layup 10 seconds later to put the Lady Pirates back up by 10, but Texas State cut the lead to 69-61 with 2:19 to play after a layup from Ezeh.

Bennett hit two free throws with 41 seconds to play, and junior guard Kenia Coles (Silver Spring, Md.) added a free throw with 25 seconds left to put the Lady Pirates up 72-61. Texas State missed seven field goals in the final two minutes, before Ezeh hit a jumper with just five seconds left.

Hampton open the game with a 6-0 run, taking that lead at the 17:53 mark on a jumper from Bennett. But Texas State came back, using an 11-3 run to take an 11-9 lead on an Ezeh layup at the 14:09 mark. A 3-pointer from Ayriel Anderson at the 13:10 mark put the Bobcats up 14-11.

The Lady Pirates answered with nine straight points, taking a 20-14 lead with 10:15 left in the half on another jumper from Bennett. Texas State cut the lead to 20-17 with 9:06 left in the half, but Hampton went on a 14-6 run to take a 34-23 lead at the 1:56 mark after a fast-break layup from Tate-DeFreitas.

Hampton had a34-24 lead at the half, and Tate-DeFreitas had 15 points at the break.

Texas State cut Hampton's lead to 40-32 with 16:23 left in the second half, before the Lady Pirates answered with eight straight points to take a 48-32 lead on a trey from Tate-DeFreitas. The Bobcats used an 8-0 run of its own to cut the lead to 48-40 on an Ezeh layup.

Hampton answered with a 15-0 run, taking a 63-40 lead with 8:53 left on a fast-break layup from Hamilton.

The Lady Pirates shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor and hit five of their 12 3-pointers. Hampton went 17-for-22 (77.3 percent) from the free throw line, including a 16-for-18 clip in the second half. Hampton outrebounded Texas State 49-40.

Texas State (1-3) shot just 31.3 percent (21-for-67) from the floor and made just eight of 29 3-pointers. The Bobcats also went just 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Ezeh led the Bobcats with 22 points, while Raven Burns had 13 points.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, when they head to Santa Barbara, Calif. to take on UC-Santa Barbara at 10 p.m. EST. 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.