NORFOLK, Va. – For the fifth straight year, the Hampton University women's basketball team will play in the championship game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament. The Lady Pirates advanced to the 2013 title game with a 78-52 win over Coppin State in the semifinals on Friday at Norfolk Scope.

The Lady Pirates (27-5) set a new program Division I record for most wins in a season, and they won their 18th consecutive game, tied for the eighth-longest winning streak in the nation.

Hampton, the top seed, will face either No. 2 North Carolina A&T or No. 3 Howard in the championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. in search of their fourth straight MEAC Tournament title. The game will be televised on ESPNU via tape delay on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Junior guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) poured in a career-high 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting to lead four Lady Pirates in double figures. Senior forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.), the MEAC Player of the Year, added 20 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for her 20th double-double of the season.

Senior guard Olivia Allen (Kildeer, Ill.) poured in 13 points, while junior forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) added 12 points.

Senior forward Ariel Phelps (Virginia Beach, Va.) also grabbed 10 rebounds.

The opening minutes of the game were a back-and-forth affair, as the two teams traded the lead. Coppin State led 12-11 at the 13:06 mark of the first half when Kyra Coleman converted a 3-point play. But the Lady Pirates scored the next six points to go up 17-12 with 11:07 left in the half after a Hamilton free throw.

The run extended to 12-4 at the 8:43 mark, when Avant hit a fast-break layup to give the Lady Pirates a 23-16 lead. Hamilton added a fast-break layup of her own with 5:59 left in the half to give Hampton its first double-digit lead at 28-18.

Bennett added a layup at the 4:20 mark to put Hampton up 32-21.

The Lady Pirates led 37-27 at the half, shooting 50.0 percent (13-for-26) from the floor.

Coleman cut the Lady Pirates' lead to 43-40 with 14:39 left in the second half by hitting a jumper, but when Hamilton answered at the 14:20 mark with a layup to put the Lady Pirates up 45-40, it kicked off a 25-8 Hampton run.

A Bennett fast-break layup ended that run and gave the Lady Pirates a 70-48 lead. Allen scored eight points in that run, including back-to-back 3-pointers at the 6:49 and 6:10 marks.

Meanwhile, Coppin State went from 14:39 until 4:04 without a field goal. In fact, the Lady Eagles converted just two field goals in the final 14:38 of the game – succumbing to a Lady Pirates defense that ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense as of rankings released on March 15.

Those same rankings have Hampton third in the nation in field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal defense.

The Lady Pirates shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor and hit five of their 14 3-pointers (35.7 percent). Hampton hit 15 of its 26 free throws, going 57.7 percent from the charity stripe. The Lady Pirates also held a 43-34 edge on the glass.

Coppin State (16-16), the No. 5 seed, shot just 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the floor – including a 6-for-25 (24.0 percent) clip in the second half. The Lady Eagles were just 2-for-10 (20.0 percent) from behind the arc and 18-for-24 (75.0 percent) at the free throw line.

Coleman led Coppin State 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.