KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Dec. 5, 2025) … Behind a season-high 19 points from Kiki McElrath and 17 points from Olivia Smith the Hampton University women's basketball team advanced to the finals of the HBCU Invitational with an 82-66 win over Livingstone on Friday at State Farm Field House.

With the win, Hampton (5-3) advances to face the winner of Bethune-Cookman and Edward Waters on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

The Pirates got out of the gate quickly scoring seven of the first eight points as McElrath snared a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the 7:08 mark of the opening period. Livingstone (1-5) answered with a 9-2 burst to take a 10-9 lead on a three-point play from Ny'Asia Green with 1:56 left.

Smith scored the last five points of the opening stanza on a three-pointer and a jumper just before the quarter horn to give Hampton an 18-12 lead after one. She continued her run to start the second quarter with a steal and layup to go up 20-12 just 12 seconds into the quarter.

That lead grew to as much as 16 points as Le'Asia Foreman converted a layup with 2:33 remaining to push the margin to 35-19. Putbacks by Breasia Coit and Boston Bates trimmed that lead to a halftime score of 35-23.

In the third quarter, Aisha Dabo converted a layup off a feed from Aaryn Battle to take the lead to 39-25 at the 8:10 mark. Livingstone made one big run going on a 13-4 spurt to trim the lead to 43-38 off a Green layup with 4:22 left in the third.

The Pirates answered that run with a 9-2 burst taking the advantage back to double digits on a Battle jumper with 110 seconds left for a 52-40 lead. Hampton kept that margin after three quarters as Smith made a driving layup to lead 57-45 after three.

Hampton put away any hope of the Blue Bears by opening the final quarter on a 14-3 streak as McElrath converted a four-point play as she was fouled on a three-pointer to lead 71-48 with 6:53 left.

Tyra Kennedy and Kayla Lezama had seven points each, while Foreman added six and a team-high 11 rebounds for Hampton who has now won four of its last five games. Akilah Shelton added a season-high of three blocked shots to lead the Pirates in that category.