HAMPTON, Va. – A pair of 20-point performances from senior Malia Tate-DeFreitas and junior Monnazjea Finney-Smith helped spearhead the Hampton attack on Monday night as the Lady Pirates defeated Savannah State 75-46 at the HU Convocation Center.

In a first quarter that saw the teams trade off points early, a 3-pointer from Deyja Brown gave Savannah State an early 7-6 lead in what turned into their only lead of the contest.  Kaylah Lupoe hit a free throw 30 seconds later to tie the game and help push Hampton to a 12-9 lead after one quarter on a free throw by K'Lynn Willis.

The Lady Pirates used a 9-1 flurry over a 4:36 span of the second quarter to take a 33-20 lead on a layup by Ashley Bates with 59 seconds left in the half.  Kenyata Hendrix hit a layup and a pair of free throws for Savannah State to trim the margin to 33-24 at halftime.

In the third, Hampton (8-7, 2-0) scored seven of the first nine points to lead 40-26 on a Lupoe jumper with 6:16 left.   A pair of 3-pointers from Hendrix sandwiched a
Lupoe layup as Savannah State (2-12, 0-2) trimmed the deficit to 42-32 with 5:14 left.   Hampton closed the quarter on a 14-4 run as a Finney-Smith triple put the hosts up 56-36 after three quarters.

Hampton held Savannah State to 2-of-14 from the field in the fourth quarter as they held the Tigers scoreless for 4:35 in the midst of a 16-0 run.  A Tate-DeFreitas layup with 3:48 left put Hampton up 74-38 as they went on to win 75-46.

Lupoe joined the double figure club for Hampton with 14 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.  With those two blocked shots, Lupoe became the sixth Lady Pirate to have 100 blocked shots in a career.  

Tate-DeFreitas inched closer to the all-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference scoring record with her 20 points as she now is 109 points from tying the record by Saadia Doyle of Howard as she now stands at 2,201.

Finney-Smith scored a career high 20 points tonight off the bench in 27 minutes.  She also added six rebounds and two steals for Hampton.

The Lady Pirates are now on the road to Dover, De., to tangle with the Hornets of Delaware State University in a 2pm tip on January 14.

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.