Game Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday, heading to the Colonial Life Arena to take on No. 2/2 South Carolina at 7 p.m.
 
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Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (1-7) picked up their first win of the season on Dec. 7, defeating Morgan State 65-51 in their MEAC opener. Malia Tate-DeFreitas scored a game-high 25 points, going 12-for-14 from the free throw line, and Chanel Green added a career-high 13 points.
 
The Series: Hampton is 0-2 against South Carolina following last season's 69-49 loss at the HU Convocation Center. The first meeting came in the 2012 Paradise Jam, when South Carolina won 45-34. This will be Hampton's first-ever trip to Columbia, S.C.
 
Scouting the Gamecocks: South Carolina (9-0), in its eighth season under head coach Dawn Staley, is ranked second in the nation in both the AP and USA Today polls and coming off an 86-37 win over Winthrop this past Sunday. A'ja Wilson leads the Gamecocks in both scoring (18.4 ppg) and rebounding (9.3 rpg), and four South Carolina players are averaging in double figures.
 
Against the SEC: Hampton is 4-11 against teams in the SEC. It is 0-2 against Alabama; 0-1 against Arkansas; 1-0 against Auburn; 1-2 against Florida; 0-1 against Georgia; 0-1 against Kentucky; 1-1 against LSU; 1-0 against Mississippi State; 0-2 against South Carolina; and 0-1 against Vanderbilt. Hampton has never faced Old Miss, Missouri, Tennessee, or Texas A&M.
 
Against "Power Conferences": In David Six's six-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 79-52 loss at Texas on Nov. 25, the Lady Pirates are 9-22 against teams in these six conferences — including a 1-6 mark against such teams in the 2014-15 season. During Six's tenure, Hampton boasts wins over LSU, Florida, Boston College, Pitt, Mississippi State, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, and Auburn — and the Lady Pirates took Kentucky to overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March 2011. This season, Hampton will face the likes of Iowa State, Washington State, Oregon, Texas, South Carolina, and Wake Forest.
 
Lady Pirates on the Road: The Lady Pirates were 9-9 in true road games last season, marking the first time since the 2009-10 season they did not post a winning record on the road. In their first six-plus seasons under Six, the Lady Pirates are a combined 63-32 in road games after a 65-51 win over Morgan State on Dec. 7. In 2012-13, Hampton was 13-1 on the road, and from 2010-11 through 2013-14 — a span of four seasons — Hampton was a combined 47-11 on the road.
 
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. The Lady Pirates were regular-season champions for the fifth straight year last season after going 14-2 in league play. For the second straight season, North Carolina A&T has been chosen to win the MEAC.
 
Preseason Honors: Tate-DeFreitas was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, after earning the conference's top individual honor a season ago, and senior guard Ryan Jordan was named Preseason Third Team All-MEAC. The preseason teams were voted on by the MEAC's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Tate-DeFreitas Moving on Up: Eight games into the 2015-16 season, Tate-DeFreitas is seventh on the Lady Pirates' all-time scoring list with 1,427 career points — after just two-plus seasons of play. The reigning MEAC Player of the Year is averaging 19.5 points in 73 career games thus far, and she is two points shy of sixth on the list (Angela Faulk, 1990-94, scored 1,429 career points). Jackie Dolberry (1985-89) is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,727 career points. LaShondra Dixon-Gordon (1999-2003) is the program's all-time Div. I leading scorer, ranking second overall with 1,967 career points.
 
Jordan Third Team Last Year: Jordan was selected Third Team All-MEAC by the league's head coaches and sports information directors last season, in large part because she tied for sixth in the MEAC in offensive rebounds, averaging 3.0 per game. Jordan was second on the team in rebounds with 5.9 per contest, and she had a double-double at South Carolina State on Jan. 26, scoring a career-high 22 points and grabbing 12 boards. She had a career-high 14 rebounds at DePaul on Dec. 22, 2014. She also had 19 points and nine rebounds in Hampton's WNIT first-round win at Drexel. Jordan was named Preseason Third Team All-MEAC heading into this season.
 
Lupoe Coming Along: Post player Kaylah Lupoe was a force to be reckoned with in the closing stages of the 2014-15 season. Averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds a game for the year, Lupoe upped those averages to 14.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over the last seven games of the regular season. She had three double-doubles during that stretch, including a 20-point, 13-rebound effort at Howard and a 25-point, 11-rebound game at Delaware State. Lupoe ended the regular season with three straight 20-point games, and she started in four of Hampton's last five games. During that seven game span, the team averaged over 78 points per game. So far this season, Lupoe is averaging a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.
 
All They Do is Win: The Lady Pirates come into the 2015-16 season with the second-highest winning percentage among all Div. I women's basketball programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In Six's first six years at the helm, the Lady Pirates are 146-48 overall (a .753 winning percentage), behind only James Madison in terms of winning percentage. Hampton has won at least 20 games in five of Six's first six seasons, and the Lady Pirates won 19 games last season.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense: Defense has been a staple of the Lady Pirates during Six's tenure. The MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award has gone to a Hampton player four times in the last six seasons, and in each of those six seasons, the Lady Pirates have ranked top 50 nationally in scoring defense. Hampton led all Div. I teams in scoring defense in 2012-13, holding opponents to 47.8 points per game. In 2011-12, Hampton was second in the nation, behind UConn, in scoring defense, giving up 47.6 points per game. This past season, Hampton was 50th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 58.5 points per game. In addition, the Lady Pirates were seventh in the nation in steals last season, averaging 11.4 per game.
 
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.