FORT MYERS, Fl. – The Hampton University women's basketball team returns to action after the Christmas holidays by participating in the Hilton Garden Inn Florida Gulf Coast Holiday Classic at Alico Arena. 
Hampton will face the host Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday at 7 pm and will face Samford on Friday at 4 pm.   The game with FGCU will be shown on ESPN3, while live stats will be available for both games.
 
Hampton vs. FGCU Video (ESPN3)
Hampton vs. FGCU live stats
Hampton vs. Samford live stats
Hampton Game Notes
 
ABOUT HAMPTON
Hampton is 5-6 after losing 61-58 to Old Dominion on December 18. Malia Tate-DeFreitas topped Hampton with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Monnazjea Finney-Smith added 13 points and five boards and Kaylah Lupoe had 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
ABOUT FGCU
The Eagles have won six of their last seven games after defeating St. Thomas 71-48 on December 21.  Jessica Cattani had 13 points to pace three in double figures against St. Thomas.  FGCU has faced upcoming opponent North Carolina A&T (67-41 W) and will face Savannah State on January 2.
 
ABOUT SAMFORD
Samford enters the classic 6-6 after defeating Georgia 65-59 on December 22.  Hannah Nicholas leads the team in scoring at 14 points per game and Kassidy Blevins adds 12.8 points per contest for the Bulldogs.
 
HAMPTON VS. CLASSIC OPPONENTS
Hampton has faced Florida Gulf Coast one prior time losing 70-59 on Nov. 24, 2012 in a tournament in the Virgin Islands.  This will be the first meeting in Fort Myers. 
Friday's game will be the first ever meeting between Hampton and Samford.
 
DECEMBER IN FLORIDA
This is the third year that Hampton has participated in a tournament in the Sunshine State.  For the last two seasons they have gone to Florida International and have won the FIU Holiday Tournament.  In 2014-15, they defeated Bowling Green and Auburn, while last season they defeated Wake Forest and Rhode Island.
 
HAMPTON VS. ATLANTIC SUN
Hampton has faced three members of the Atlantic Sun Conference under head coach David Six.  They are 1-1 against Jacksonville, 0-1 against Stetson and FGCU.  They have not faced Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Florida and USC Upstate.

HAMPTON VS. SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
This will be the first meeting with a Southern Conference team under head coach David Six when they take on Samford Friday.

MEAC APPROACHING
This will be the final non-conference games of the 2016-17 season as after this weekend the Lady Pirates will start Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play taking on pre-season top-pick North Carolina A&T on January 4 at 5 pm at the Convocation Center.

For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5906 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.