Game Notes

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will hit the road again on Saturday, heading to the Physical Education Complex to take on Coppin State in their lone match-up of the season at 2 p.m.
 
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Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (11-13, 9-2 MEAC) took over first place in the conference standings with a 60-47 win over Morgan State this past Monday. Junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas scored a game-high 23 points and had five steals, while freshman guard K'lynn Willis added nine points. Sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe had eight points, nine rebounds, and five steals.
 
The Series: The Lady Pirates are 25-15 against Coppin State, and Hampton has won each of the last eight meetings after a 69-44 win last season. Hampton is 8-7 against Coppin State on the road.
  
Scouting the Eagles: Coppin State (9-15, 6-6 MEAC), in its 14th season under head coach Derek Brown, has won back-to-back games after a 64-46 win over North Carolina Central on Thursday. Senior forward Janelle Lane and junior guard Keena Samuels lead the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game each, while senior forward Omaah Tayong is grabbing a team-high 8.5 boards a contest.
 
Lady Pirates Against the MEAC: Hampton is 335-143 against teams currently in the MEAC — including a 25-15 mark against Coppin State — and the Hampton has won eight MEAC regular-season titles to go along with eight tournament titles, including five of the last six.
 
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 head coach David Six, the Lady Pirates are a combined 66-36 in road games after an 83-77 overtime loss to Howard on Feb. 8. 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: Twenty-four games into the 2015-16 season, Tate-DeFreitas is fourth on the Lady Pirates' all-time scoring list with 1,783 career points — after just two-plus seasons of play. The reigning MEAC Player of the Year is averaging 20.0 points in 89 career games thus far, and she is 12 points shy of third on the list (Anita Cooper, 1982-86, 1,795 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.
 
Lupoe Coming Along: 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. Lupoe is averaging 10.0 points and a team-best 7.8 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.