BAYAMON, PUERTO RICO (Nov. 27, 2025) … Hampton rallied from an 18-point third quarter deficit to cut the margin to two, but Stephen F. Austin converted five-of-six from the foul line in the last 34 seconds to take a 67-61 victory in game one of the Puerto Rico Clasico on Thursday at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum.

Hampton (3-3) jumped out to an 8-4 lead early as Kiki McElrath hit a three-ball to start the scoring, then Kayla Lezama had a layup and a three-point play and Taylor Gibson hit a layup from a McElrath feed to lead 8-4 with 5:11 left in the first period.

Stephen F. Austin responded with a 10-2 burst to lead 14-10 following a turnaround jumper from Cha Gardner just 10 seconds into the second quarter. That lead grew to seven points, but Hampton trimmed it to one as Aisha Dabo drained a triple off a feed from Olivia Smith to bring Hampton to 25-24 with 1:58 left in the half.

The Lumberjacks closed the half on a 9-3 burst with a layup from Harmanie Dominguez giving SFA a 34-27 halftime advantage. In the third quarter, SFA opened on a 17-6 outburst to lead 51-33 on a Myka Perry layup with 4:59 on the clock.

Hampton turned up the pressure and chipped its way back into the contest. Le'Asia Foreman hit one free throw, Lezama and McElrath added jumpers to pull the Pirates to 58-49 at the 6:19 mark.

A Dominguez jumper and a pair of Key Roseby free throws pushed SFA back up 62-49 with 4:39 left, though the Pirates had one big charge left.

Foreman followed up a missed shot and Aaryn Battle had a jumper to get the deficit in single digits at 62-53 with 3:58 left. Hampton forced three turnovers and got two buckets from Lezama and a pair of free throws from McElrath to pull to 62-59 with 61 seconds left.

Following a free throw from Perry, Kiya Dorroh putback gave the Pirates a final shot down 63-61 with 21 seconds remaining. SFA went 4-for-4 in the final 17 seconds for the win.

Lezama had 18 points to lead Hampton, while McElrath and Dabo added seven and Foreman had six with a team high nine rebounds, including six offensive.

Hampton is back in action on Saturday morning facing Buffalo at 10am Atlantic Time, 9 am Eastern.