SAVANNAH, Ga. – A frigid day from the field put the Hampton University women's basketball team in too deep of a hole as they lost 55-51 at Savannah State on Saturday.
 
DeJane James had 13 points to lead the scoring efforts off the bench on Saturday.  Chanel Green added 11 points, three assists and three steals for Hampton (13-9, 7-2).  Tiyonda Davis was the leading scorer in the game for Savannah State (8-14, 6-4) with 16 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots.
 
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-0 lead on a 3-pointer from Lauren Moss with 6:16 left in the first.  Hampton cut the deficit to six three times with a Green layup closing the first quarter scoring at 12-6.
 
In the second quarter, Hampton got as close as 14-12 on a Kaylah Lupoe layup with 5:53 left, but went to the locker room down 20-14 on a Rhianna Warren layup with 30 seconds left in the half.
 
Savannah State pushed the lead early in the third quarter to 24-14 on a Jeremica Edwards layup with 6:16 left.  Hampton made its big push going on a 13-3 run over the next 3:10 to tie the game 27-all on a Monnazjea Finney-Smith 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the quarter.  That run was closed by 3-pointers from James (2) and Finney-Smith. 
 
The Tigers scored the next seven points to lead 34-27 on a Deyja Brown layup with 51 seconds, but saw Hampton score the last five points to trail 34-32 after three on a Finney-Smith triple with five seconds left.
 
The hosts opened the fourth scoring 11 of the first 13 points to take a 45-34 lead on a 3-point play from Davis with 5:05 left.  Hampton trimmed that to 50-46 with 1:21 left on a pair of Chanel Green free throws but couldn't get closer than that.
 
For the game Hampton was 19-of-69 from the floor (27.5%) and 6-of-21 from 3-point range (28.6%).  Savannah State was 22-of-46 (47.8%) from the floor and 3-of-11 from 3-point range (27.3%).  The Tigers outrebounded Hampton 41-40, despite turning the ball over 23 times compared to 14 by Hampton.
 
Hampton will now go to Orangeburg, SC to face South Carolina State on Monday night at 5:30 pm.
 
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.