HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University women's basketball team lost its final home game of the 2015-16 season on Monday, as Delaware State defeated the Lady Pirates 89-81 at the HU Convocation Center.
 
The Lady Pirates fell to 13-15 overall and 11-4 in MEAC play.
 
Junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas led all scorers with 35 points on 11-for-19 shooting, hitting six of her 11 3-pointers. She also grabbed eight rebounds, tying with sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe for the team high.
 
Tate-DeFreitas has five 30-point games this season.
 
Freshman guard Dejane' James added 12 points, hitting off six of her free throws. Freshman guard K'lynn Willis and Lupoe each had nine points, and Willis dished out a career-high six assists.
 
The Lady Pirates shot 37.1 percent (23-for-62) from the floor, hitting six of their 17 3-pointers (35.3 percent) and 74.4 percent of their free throws (29-for-39). Hampton scored 33 points off of 27 Delaware State turnovers.
 
Tate-DeFreitas gave the Lady Pirates a 14-11 lead with a 3-pointer at the 3:59 mark of the first quarter, and the Lady Pirates led 16-11 after Lupoe hit a pair of free throws. But Delaware State closed the quarter on a 10-2 run, taking a 21-18 lead after a Nikkei Blackburn jumper.
 
The Hornets controlled much of the second quarter, even as Tate-DeFreitas cut the lead to 39-33 with a free throw at 3:23 mark. But the Hornets scored the next seven points – taking a 46-33 lead with 1:09 left in the half following a Blackburn jumper.
 
Senior guard Areana Davis hit a free throw to cut the lead to 64-34 at the half.
 
Tate-DeFreitas led all scorers with 17 points at the break.
 
The Hornets opened their lead in the third quarter, leading by double digits for most of the frame. In fact, a pair of Blackburn free throws at the 1:53 mark gave Delaware State a 66-48 lead, and the Hornets led 70-53 after the first 30 minutes.
 
The Lady Pirates mounted their comeback in the fourth quarter, opening the frame with a 12-2 run that cut the lead to 72-65 after a layup from redshirt junior guard Chanel Green at the 5:36 mark. The Hornets answered with five straight, going up 77-65 after a Blackburn layup.
 
Hampton then went on a 10-3 run to cut the lead to 80-75 on a layup from James with 1:58 remaining, and Tate-DeFreitas cut the lead to 81-76 with a free throw from 1:12 remaining.
 
The Hornets went back up by seven, before a layup from sophomore forward Mikayla Sayle converted a layup to cut the lead to 83-79.
 
But Ivana Negron and N'Kayah Kersey hit all their free throws down the stretch, and NaJai Pollard hit a layup with five seconds left to clinch the victory.
 
Delaware State (9-19, 6-9 MEAC) shot 44.6 percent (25-for-56) from the floor and made 33 of 44 free throws (75.0 percent). The Hornets also had a decisive advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Lady Pirates 54-26.
 
Kersey, Blackburn, and Mikah Aldridge each had 19 points for the Hornets.
 
The Lady Pirates will close out the regular season on Thursday at Norfolk State at 6 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.