TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Thanks to a defensive effort that turned Florida A&M over 28 times, the Hampton University women's basketball team routed the Lady Rattlers 80-52 on Monday evening at the Al Lawson Center.

The Lady Pirates (7-9, 3-0 MEAC) converted those 28 turnovers into 34 points.
 
Hampton has won nine straight games over Florida A&M, 52 straight against MEAC foes, and four of their last five games overall.
 
Senior guard Kyani White (Manassas, Va.) led the way with a career-high 20 points, going 8-for-14 from the floor in leading three Lady Pirates in double figures. She also had a team-high five assists, as did senior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) – who also poured in 18 points with four 3-pointers.
 
Sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added 16 points.
 
Junior guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) and redshirt junior forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) each grabbed a team-high six rebounds, and Ward added eight points off the bench.
 
The Lady Pirates shot 50.0 percent (29-for-58) from the floor and made eight of their 20 3-pointers (40.0 percent). Hampton also outscored FAMU 40-24 in the paint and had a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points.
 
After White tied the game at 10-10 with a fastbreak layup at the 13:47 mark of the first half, FAMU scored the next six points, taking a 16-10 lead with 12:21 left in the half following a layup from Brooksie McGraw.
 
Cole then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 16-16, before Tate-DeFreitas hit two free throws at the 10:45 mark to give the Lady Pirates an 18-16 lead.
 
FAMU took a 19-18 lead on a 3-pointer from Taneka Rubin, but the Lady Pirates answered with a 12-2 run to take a 30-21 lead with 6:32 left in the half following another trey from Cole.
 
Rubin cut the lead to 35-26 with a free throw at the 3:22 mark, but Hampton closed out the half with 7-2 run, taking a 42-28 lead into the locker room after Tate-DeFreitas hit a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the half.
 
Cole had 15 points at the half, and White had 11.
 
After FAMU cut the lead to 44-31 with 17:38 left in the contest, the Lady Pirates went on a 14-4 run, taking a 58-35 lead with 13:40 to play after a layup from White. Hampton never led by less than 20 the rest of the way.
 
In fact, after Olivia Antilla cut the lead to 60-40 at the 11:11 mark, the Lady Pirates went on a 17-2 run to take a 77-42 lead with 3:12 to play after a 3-pointer in the corner from senior guard Jackie Marshall (Hackensack, N.J.).
 
That wound up being Hampton's largest lead of the game.
 
FAMU (4-11, 1-3 MEAC) shot 41.7 percent (20-for-48) from the floor and outrebounded the Lady Pirates 32-31.
 
Rubin led the Lady Rattlers with 18 points.
 
The Lady Pirates will return home on Saturday to take on North Carolina A&T at 4 p.m. on ESPN3. 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.