HAMPTON, Va. – With a 65-53 win over Savannah State on Saturday afternoon at the HU Convocation Center, the Hampton University women's basketball team picked up its third straight win.
 
The Lady Pirates (7-12) improved to 5-1 in MEAC play.
 
Junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas led three Lady Pirates in double figures with 16 points, while also grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Tate-DeFreitas went 6-for-11 from the floor and dished out seven assists.
 
Sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe, after going 6-for-10 from the floor, added 12 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard K'lynn Willis chipped in 12 points to score in double figures for the fourth straight game.
 
Senior guard Kristine Rose added a career-high nine points (all in the second half) and six rebounds.
 
The Lady Pirates shot 41.5 percent (27-for-65) from the floor – including a 47.1 percent clip (16-for-34) in the second half. Hampton hit four of its 18 3-pointers (22.2 percent) and seven of 13 free throws (53.8 percent).
 
Hampton also held a 45-36 edge on the glass and turned 16 Savannah State turnovers into 17 points.
 
Savannah State, the defending MEAC Tournament champion, took a 5-4 lead early in the contest, before the Lady Pirates scored six unanswered points – taking a 10-5 lead after Tate-DeFreitas hit a fastbreak jumper at the 3:55 mark.
 
The Tigers answered with six straight of their own to go up 11-10, but a 5-1 spurt closed out the quarter for the Lady Pirates, who took a 15-12 lead after Willis hit a layup with nine seconds left.
 
A Tiyonda Davis layup with 6:37 left in the second quarter capped a 5-1 Savannah State spurt and gave the Tigers a 17-16 lead. But the Lady Pirates scored 11 of the last 16 points in the quarter, heading into the half with a 27-22 lead after a Tate-DeFreitas layup in the closing seconds of the half.
 
Tate-DeFreitas had eight points and nine rebounds at the half.
 
The Tigers cut the lead to 27-24 in the opening minute of the third quarter, but the Lady Pirates responded with an 8-0 run to take a 35-24 lead with 7:24 left in the quarter a fastbreak layup from freshman guard Dejane' James.
 
Hampton led by as many as 12 in the quarter, taking a 45-33 lead after a trey from Tate-DeFreitas at the 2:12 mark.
 
Lupoe added a jumper as the quarter wound down to put Hampton up 47-37 after 30 minutes of play.
 
Kenyata Hendrix hit a three with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, cutting Hampton's lead to 53-40, but the Lady Pirates went on a 7-2 run to go up 61-42 at the 5:16 mark following a fastbreak layup from Lupoe. The Tigers scored the next six points to cut the lead to 61-48, but Hampton held the double-digit edge the rest of the way.
 
Willis scored nine of her 12 points in the second half.
 
Savannah State (5-12, 2-4 MEAC) shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the floor and made just one of nine 3-pointers. The Tigers only made 48.0 percent (12-for-25) of their free throws.
 
Hendrix and Davis each had 12 points.
 
The Lady Pirates will play host to South Carolina State on Monday 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.