AUSTIN, Texas – Wednesday night marked another milestone for junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas, as she scored a game-high 21 points in the Hampton University women's basketball team's 79-52 loss to No. 8/8 Texas in the Erwin Center.
 
With that effort, Tate-DeFreitas moved into eighth on the program's all-time scoring list.
 
Tate-DeFreitas now has 1,375 career points, and she is 10 points behind Jericka Jenkins (2008-12) for seventh on the all-time list.
 
She also had five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe added 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds, blocking six shots to tie her career high, and grabbing three steals.
 
The Lady Pirates (0-5) shot 35.0 percent (21-for-60) from the floor.
 
Texas opened the game on a 14-2 run, and the Lady Pirates went the first 8:02 of the game before hitting their first field goal – a jumper in the paint from Tate-DeFreitas that cut Texas' lead to 18-6.
 
The Longhorns led 23-10 after the first 10 minutes.
 
Tate-DeFreitas cut the lead to 29-19 with a jumper with 6:23 left in the second quarter, before the Longhorns went on a 14-1 run to open up a 43-20 lead after Imani Boyette hit a jumper with 29 seconds left in the half.
 
Texas took a 43-22 lead into the half.
 
The Longhorns took that momentum into the third quarter, in which they outscored the Lady Pirates 21-7 and took a 64-27 lead with 24 seconds left in the quarter after a layup from Boyette.
 
Lashann Higgs gave Texas its largest lead of the night, 72-33, with 7:03 left in the fourth quarter following a free throw. But the Lady Pirates scored the next eight points, cutting the lead to 72-41 with 4:16 left to play after a jumper from freshman guard K'lynn Willis.
 
In total, Hampton used a 17-2 run to cut the Longhorns' lead to 74-50 with 1:35 remaining following a layup from Tate-DeFreitas, who scored 10 points in the second half.
 
Lupoe also had 10 points in the second half.
 
Texas (4-0) shot 47.7 percent (31-for-65) from the floor – including a 57.6 clip (19-for-33) in the second half – and held a 47-34 advantage on the glass. While both teams turned the ball over 18 times, the Longhorns scored 23 points off of turnovers to Hampton's 10.
 
Brianna Taylor led four Longhorns in double figures with 16 points.
 
The Lady Pirates will have their home opener on Sunday, welcoming James Madison to the HU Convocation Center at 5 p.m. 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.