Game Notes

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will return to the HU Convocation Center on Saturday to square off against rival North Carolina A&T at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
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Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (7-9, 3-0 MEAC) dominated Florida A&M to the tune on an 80-52 win on Monday, thanks to 28 Rattler turnovers that led to 34 Hampton points. Senior guard Kyani White (Manassas, Va.) led three players in double figures with a career-high 20 points, while senior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) added 18 points and sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) added 16 points.
 
The Opponent: North Carolina A&T (9-8, 2-2 MEAC), in its third season under head coach Tarrell Robinson, is the preseason favorite to win the MEAC and has won three straight after beating South Carolina State 59-48 on Monday. Redshirt junior center Aprill McRae leads the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game, and redshirt junior forward/center Eboni Ross' 7.1 rebounds a contest lead the team.
   
The Series: The Lady Pirates are 21-13 all-time against North Carolina A&T, and Hampton has won each of the last four meetings — including a 54-51 win at the HU Convocation Center last season. Prior to that, the Aggies had won 10 of 11 meetings. Hampton is 12-5 against the Aggies at home.
 
Lady Pirates Against the MEAC: Hampton is 316-138 against teams currently in the MEAC — including a 21-13 mark against North Carolina A&T — and the Lady Pirates have won eight MEAC regular-season titles to go along with eight tournament titles, including each of the last five. Overall, the Lady Pirates have won their last 52 games against MEAC foes, including conference tournament games.
 
Lady Pirates at Home: The Lady Pirates were a perfect 11-0 at home in 2012-13, and in their five years under head coach David Six, they are 48-7 in the HU Convocation Center. Hampton had not lost at home since Jan. 28, 2012, falling to Coppin State in overtime, prior to a loss to American back on Dec. 4 of last season. Hampton is 1-3 at home this season after falling 75-63 to Princeton on Jan. 5.
  
Lady Pirates Picked to Finish Second: Hampton has been picked to finish second in the MEAC this season in a preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. North Carolina A&T, the 2013-14 MEAC runners-up, were chosen to win the conference this season.
 
Tate-DeFreitas, Cole Honored: Tate-DeFreitas was named Preseason First Team All-MEAC by the league's head coaches and sports information directors, while Cole was named Preseason Third Team All-MEAC. It was yet another honor for Tate-DeFreitas, the 2013-14 MEAC Rookie of the Year, Second Team All-MEAC selection, VaSID Rookie of the Year, and VaSID Second Team All-State selection.
 
Six Chasing History: In five-plus seasons with the Lady Pirates, Six has won 133 games, making him the program's all-time winningest coach at the Div. I level – surpassing Patricia Cage-Bibbs. The record-breaking win came at Penn on Dec. 5.
 
Lady Pirates Against Power Conferences: In Six's five-plus seasons at the helm, the Lady Pirates have enjoyed success against the six so-called "power conferences:" the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac-12, and SEC. After a 44-42 win over Auburn on Dec. 30, the Lady Pirates are 9-17 against teams in these six conferences — including a 2-3 mark last season.
 
Tate-DeFreitas a Scoring Machine: Tate-DeFreitas is coming off a 2013-14 campaign that saw her earn MEAC Rookie of the Year honors after tallying 596 points over the course of her debut season. Through Monday's game at Florida A&M, Tate-DeFreitas ranks second in the MEAC in scoring, and her 808 career points leave her 92 points shy of becoming the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. Tate-DeFreitas also leads the MEAC in minutes played and steals, while ranking third in 3-pointers per game. The Preseason First Team All-MEAC selection has scored at least 20 points in 10 of the Lady Pirates' first 16 games this season, including a season-high 27 at Penn, after her 16-point performance this past Monday.
 
Ward Crashed the Glass: The Lady Pirates played 33 games in 2013-14, and in 13 of those games, forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed double-digit rebounds — including a school-record 23 against Virginia Tech on Jan. 1. She was second on the team with 8.3 rebounds per game (fourth in the MEAC), and she pulled down 11 boards in a loss at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 26. She also grabbed 15 rebounds against North Carolina A&T, 13 rebounds at Drexel on Dec. 18, as well as 12 each against Kansas State and Delaware State. She was key in the Lady Pirates' MEAC Tournament championship game against Coppin State, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring 10 points for her lone double-double of the season.
 
Cole Dishing it Out: Cole, who was a Preseason Third Team All-MEAC selection, currently ranks second in the MEAC in both assists and assist/turnover ratio. In her last 21 games of 2013-14, Cole averaged 13.0 points per contest — including her career-best 30-point effort against Virginia Tech on Jan. 1. Cole also had 19 points against Brown on Dec. 29, and in her last 21 games, Cole is 49-for-125 (.392) from 3-point range — and 83-for-210 (.395) from the floor.
 
A Career Day for Hobgood: Redshirt junior forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.) had a career day at Penn, grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds against the Quakers — including nine on the offensive end. Through 14 games so far this season, Hobgood is averaging a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game to rank tied for ninth in the MEAC — after averaging 3.5 boards per contest in 21 games last season, her first with the Lady Pirates after transferring from Miami (Fla.). She is also third in the conference in offensive rebounds.
 
Loaded With Transfers: Of the seven newcomers currently on the Lady Pirates roster, four of them come from other Div. I schools. White transferred over from East Carolina, while junior guard Kristine Rose (Miramar, Fla.) comes over from Xavier and redshirt-junior forward Lindsay Williams (Bowie, Md.) was at Mount St. Mary's before heading to Anne Arundel Community College. In addition, Marshall played at Iona.
 
All They Do is Win: The Lady Pirates came into the 2014-15 season with the best winning percentage among all Div. I programs in the commonwealth of Virginia, sitting at .784 (127-35) in Six's first five years at the helm. Hampton has won 20 games or more in each of Six's five seasons and were on an 18-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in the nation, prior to their NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State.
 
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.