PULLMAN, Wash. – A second-half push from the Hampton University women's basketball team cut the game to single digits Monday night at the Beasley Coliseum, but Washington State held on to come away with a 68-61 win.
 
Junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas recorded her second straight 20-point game to open the season, leading the Lady Pirates with 22 points, hitting four of her seven 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe added 13 points, 11 in the second half, on 6-for-11 shooting.
 
Both players also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Lady Pirates (0-2) out-rebounded Washington State 47-38 – including a 17-11 edge on the offensive glass that helped Hampton outscore the Cougars 14-7 in second-chance points.
 
Hampton also led 34-24 in points in the paint.
 
The Lady Pirates shot 38.7 percent (26-for-68) from the floor and made four of their 12 3-pointers. Washington State (2-0) shot 39.7 percent (25-for-63) from the floor, but the Cougars' edge came from behind the arc, where they went 11-for-22.
 
Points were at a premium in the first quarter – the first goal didn't come until the 7:43 mark, when Lupoe hit a layup to put the Lady Pirates up 2-0. Washington State answered with a 10-2 run to take a 10-4 lead, its largest of the quarter.
 
But Hampton went on a 6-1 run of its own, cutting the lead to 11-10 after a pair of free throws from K'lynn Willis with 1:17 left in the quarter.
 
The Cougars led by two after the first 10 minutes, and with 4:40 left in the second quarter, Tate-DeFreitas hit a trey that pulled the Lady Pirates within four (23-19). But the Cougars responded with a 15-2 run to take a 38-21 lead at the 1:28 mark.
 
Washington State led 38-23 at the half.
 
Tate-DeFreitas had nine points at the break to lead Hampton.
 
The Cougars grew a 52-33 lead with 3:35 left in the third quarter after a trey from Alexys Swedlund, and another 3-pointer from Borislava Hristova at the 2:48 mark put Washington State up 54-35.
 
Hampton began the comeback trail at that point, starting with a 7-0 run that cut the lead to 54-42 after a putback layup from Georgianna Gilbeaux with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. The Cougars led 55-42 after 30 minutes, but Hampton opened the fourth quarter with a 6-2 spurt to cut the lead to 57-48 after a Lupoe layup.
 
Washington State went up 68-53 with 3:13 left after a Swedlund trey, but that wound up being the Cougars' last field goal of the game. A Lupoe layup kicked off the game-ending 7-0 spurt, followed by a Tate-DeFreitas trey that cut the lead to 68-58.
 
Tate-DeFreitas hit another 3-pointer with 29 seconds to play, but the comeback fell just short.
 
Hristova led the Cougars with 20 points.
 
The Lady Pirates will be in Eugene, Ore. on Thursday to take on Oregon at 9 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.