HAMPTON, Va. (Dec. 4, 2025) … Coming off a 1-1 showing in the Puerto Rico Clasico over Thanksgiving, the Hampton University women's basketball team heads to the land of Mickey and Minnie Mouse to participate in the inaugural HBCU Invitational at Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida.

They'll open tournament play at 2 p.m. on Friday against former CIAA foe Livingstone. On Saturday, they'll face either former MEAC rival Bethune-Cookman or Edward Waters.

ABOUT HAMPTON (4-3)
The Pirates are coming off a 1-1 weekend in Puerto Rico over Thanksgiving as they fell to Stephen F. Austin 67-61 and defeated Buffalo 58-56.

Against Buffalo, Aisha Dabo's putback with six seconds left provided the final margin. Dabo only had four points in the game but all were noteworthy as her layup at the halftime buzzer tied the game at 31-all.

Kayla Lezama leads the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game, while Kiki McElrath is next at 10.7 points per game. Aaryn Battle follows with 8.7 points, leads in steals with 17 and is second in rebounding at 4.5 per game. Le'Asia Foreman averages a team best 6.0 rebounds per game.

As a team, the Pirates are averaging 62.9 points per game and allowing 55.7. On the boards, they trail 38.6-to-36.6 per game. From the field they are hitting 36.4 percent (168-of-462) and allowing opponents to hit 39.3 percent (149-of-379). From 3-point range, Hampton is 43-of-164 for 26.2 percent while the opposition is 26-of-116 for 22.4 percent. Hampton has averaged 15.1 turnovers per game and force 22.7 per contest.

Hampton leads the CAA in steals per game (11.7), three-point field goal defense (.224), scoring defense (55.7), turnover margin (+7.57), second in assists per game (14.8) and is fourth offensive rebounding (14.4).

ABOUT LIVINGSTONE (1-4)
Livingstone  snapped a four-game losing streak to start its season on Wednesday night defeating Carolina University 77-41. They had lost their previous matchup at Newberry 65-61 on Saturday.

The Blue Bears have four players averaging at least nine points per game with Jasiyah Crawford leading averaging 14.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Breasia Cole is next at 12.0 points and a team-best 11.8 rebounds per game, while Nielle Reaves averages 11 points per contest. Racheal Cherrington is averaging 9.0 points and has a team-best eight steals this season.

ABOUT BETHUNE-COOKMAN (1-6)
The Wildcats are 1-6 on the season with three of those losses coming against Power4 opponents UCF, Miami (Florida) and Maryland. Bethune-Cookman is coached by Janell Crayton Del Rosario who was an assistant coach for Hampton for three seasons culminating with a MEAC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.

Alexandria Johnson averages 8.0 points per game to lead Bethune-Cookman with Jordan Brooks just behind at 7.6 points per contest.

ABOUT EDWARD WATERS (3-3)
The Tigers of Edward Waters enter the tournament with a 3-3 record after defeating Central State (Ohio) 70-39 on Tuesday evening.

Shcira Fowles averages a double-double to lead the team at 10.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Imani Harris averages 10.3 points and leads the team with 27 assists and 11 steals, while Tan Brown averages 10.2 points and has made a team-high 10 three-pointers.

PIRATES IN DECEMBER
In the 51-year history of Hampton University women's basketball, the Pirates are 127-135 in the month of December.  The Pirates are 6-5 all-time on December 5 having lost at N.C. State 83-51 on Dec. 5, 2018 in its last contest on this date.

SERIES VS. TOURNAMENT FIELD
This will be the 21^st meeting between former CIAA rivals when Hampton faces Livingstone. The Pirates lost the opening matchup in the 1977-78 season 63-60, but have won the last 19 contests. Hampton defeated Livingstone 55-47 at Livingstone in the last meeting on Feb. 12, 1996.

Against Bethune-Cookman, the Pirates hold a 27-9 advantage over its former MEAC rival. Hampton won the last meeting in the 2018 MEAC Tournament defeating the Wildcats 61-60.

This could be the first-ever meeting with Edward Waters.

PLAYED THEM TIGHT
Last year, the Pirates were involved in 18 games, including seven of their last 10, that were decided by 10 points or less and sported a 7-11 mark in those games.

In Hampton's Battle of the Bay win over Norfolk State, the Pirates picked up where that left off last season scoring a 57-55 win which snapped a 28-game home court winning streak for the Spartans. They pulled another two-point win on November 29 with a 58-56 victory over Buffalo.

FULL CIRCLE MOMENT
While Hampton newcomer Kayla Lezama joined the Pirates for the 2025-26 season, this isn't her first time on the Hampton campus. As a fifth-grader her AAU team played in a tournament at the Boo Williams Complex in Hampton and her father, brought her and the team to campus to tour during their stay.

OH CAPTAIN – MY TRI-CAPTAINS
The Hampton Pirates named tri-captains for the 2025-26 season and those were seniors Kiya Dorroh, Olivia Smith and junior Kayla Lezama.

INTERESTING MATCHUPS
The Norfolk State and Delaware State games provided flashbacks for a couple of Pirates. Against Norfolk State, it was a return to Joe Echols hall for first year assistant coach Trinese Fox who joined the Hampton staff this year after serving two stints at Norfolk State as an assistant coach from 2020-22 and 2023-25.

The Delaware State game hadKiki McElrath going against her former team. Last year against Hampton, McElrath had 15 points going 9-for-9 from the line in a Pirates win 64-47 on Dec. 30, 2024.

NEXT UP
After this weekend's HBCU Invitational, the Pirates will bus to Washington, D.C. to face Howard in the Battle of the Real HU on December 13 at noon inside CareFirst Arena.