Game Notes

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will play its regular-season finale on Thursday, celebrating Senior Night by taking on rival Norfolk State at 5:30 p.m. in the HU Convocation Center.
 
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Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (17-11, 13-2 MEAC) picked up their seventh straight win on Monday with a 78-63 win at Delaware State. Sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) and freshman forward Kaylah Lupoe (Phoenix, Ariz.) each had 25 points, while Lupoe also had 11 rebounds for her second straight double-double. Redshirt junior forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) also had 11 rebounds.
 
The Seniors: After the game, Ward, redshirt junior forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.), senior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.), senior guard Kyani White (Manassas, Va.), senior guard Jackie Marshall (Hackensack, N.J.), and senior guard Lauren Johnson (Cairo, Ga.) will be honored.
 
The Opponent: Norfolk State (12-14, 11-4 MEAC), in its fifth season under head coach Debra Clark, has won four straight games after a 63-60 win at Howard on Monday. Redshirt senior guard Rae Corbo leads the team with 21.5 points a game, while freshman forward Kayla Roberts is averaging 12.6 points and 9.5 rebounds a contest. Sophomore guard Koryn Lawrence is averaging 10.3 points per game.
   
The Series: The Lady Pirates are 53-33 all-time against Norfolk State, despite the Spartans' 71-66 overtime win earlier this season to snap a 17-game losing streak in the series. Prior to that, the Spartans last defeated Hampton on Dec. 2, 2006. The Lady Pirates are 23-12 against Norfolk State at home.
 
Lady Pirates Against the MEAC: Hampton is 326-140 against teams currently in the MEAC — including a 53-33 mark against Norfolk State — 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 had won their last 54 games against MEAC foes prior to a loss at Savannah State on Jan. 24.
   
Lady Pirates at Home: The Lady Pirates were a perfect 11-0 at home in 2012-13, and in their first five-plus years under head coach David Six, they are 53-7 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 7-3 at home this season after beating Coppin State 69-44 on Feb. 23.
   
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 144 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. In dropping 37 points at South Carolina State on Jan. 26, Tate-DeFreitas became the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. Tate-DeFreitas leads the MEAC lead in scoring, while also ranking 10th in the nation, and she leads the conference in minutes played. She also ranks second in steals and 3-pointers per game. The Preseason First Team All-MEAC selection has scored at least 20 points in 21 of the Lady Pirates' first 28 games this season (including each of the last nine), including a career-high 39 this past Saturday at Howard.
 
Ward Crashed the Glass: The Lady Pirates played 33 games in 2013-14, and in 13 of those games, Ward 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 assist/turnover ratio and assists. 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: Hobgood had a career day at Penn on Dec. 2, grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds against the Quakers — including nine on the offensive end. Through 28 games so far this season, Hobgood is averaging 4.9 rebounds per game to rank third on the team — 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 14th 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.