HAMPTON, Va. (Dec. 21, 2024) … Hampton (3-7) battled back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit only to come up short in a 72-69 loss at the hands of George Washington (7-5) at the FIU Christmas Classic at Miami's Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
Jasha Clinton scored a season-high 24 points and
Amyah Reaves scored seven of her 15 points in the game's final 3:29 while holding the Revolutionaries without a field goal. The Lady Pirates rallied to tie the score and 60-60 and 62-62 but George Washington was able to convert its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
After a brief lead in the opening minute of the matchup, Hampton fell behind 18-11 at the end of the first quarter of play. Coach
Tamisha Augustin's troops rallied in the second quarter, outscoring the Revolutionaries 14-12 to trail 30-25 at intermission. Clinton scored eight points to spearhead the comeback.
The Lady Pirates outscored the Revolutionaries 7-2 to start the second half and tied the contest 32-32 with 6:59 left in the third period on a pair of free throws by Reaves. After forging a 35-35 tie with 5:00 to go in the third quarter, the Colonials went on a 15-3 run to lead 50-38 with 27 seconds left in the period.
George Washington led by a dozen, 56-44 with 8:03 left before Hampton rallied. Clinton spurred the comeback with four free throws early in the fourth period and Reaves took control in the final minutes. Despite the heroics by Reaves and solid play by Clinton, George Washington converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:56. While Hampton was able to tie the contest on two occasions in the final minutes, the Lady Pirates were not able to take the lead.
Hampton's starting five accounted for 61 of Hampton's 69 points. In addition to the 24 points by Clinton and 15 by Reaves,
Aisha Dabo scored 12 points and
CeCe Thomas chipped in 10 for the Lady Pirates. Clinton had six steals and Dabo grabbed five rebounds.
Clinton was named to the All-Tournament Team after the game.
The Lady Pirates will break for the Christmas holidays before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 30 at 4:00 p.m. when the Lady Pirates play Delaware State on the road.
