HAMPTON, Va. – A 24-12 third quarter helped propel the Hampton Lady Pirates to a 67-43 win over visiting USC Upstate in a Big South Conference matchup Tuesday night.  With the win Hampton (11-8, 7-1) is now in a tie for first with Radford.

Following an even first quarter, Hampton opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run to double up the lead at 26-13 on a layup by Laren VanArsdale with 5:22 left in the half.  USC Upstate (6-13, 2-6) scored its first points of the quarter 20 seconds later on a jumper from Natalie Panufnik.  That started a 10-2 spurt by the Spartans to trail 28-23 on a triple by Rylie Parkhurst with 57 seconds left.

In the third, Hampton was blistering the nets hitting 10-of-17 from the floor (58.8%) and 3-of-6 from 3-point land (50%).  A 12-3 run over a nearly four-minute span put Hampton up 49-29 on a jumper from LaShayla Wright-Ponder with 2:41 left.

The fourth saw Hampton clamp even more on defense holding the Spartans to a frigid 12.5% from the floor and from 3-point land going 2-of-16 and 1-of-8 respectively.  A desperation 3-pointer in the final seconds was the only points for the Spartans in the last 4:37.  A three-point play by Ashley Bates with 2:18 left gave Hampton its largest lead at 67-40.

VanArsdale was the leading scorer with 18 points and five assists, while Bates produced her stat-sheet stuffing line of 16 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists.  Mahaley Holit just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high matching 11 assists.  Wright-Ponder had eight points and seven boards, Kaylah LUpoe added eight points, 10 boards and two blocks, while Charlisa Jenkins added six and 10 boards.

Hampton now hits the road for a big conference matchup on Saturday at High Point in a 2pm tip.

For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.