HAMPTON, Va. (Jan. 15, 2026) … The Hampton University women's basketball team takes to the road this weekend for a pair of key CAA contests. They'll open Friday night in Williamsburg against the defending tournament champion William & Mary Tribe at 7 p.m.

On Sunday, they'll be in Greensboro to face N.C. A&T at 2 p.m. inside Corbett Sports Center.

ABOUT HAMPTON (7-8/1-2)
Hampton starts a two-game road weekend visiting William & Mary on Friday night and then head to Greensboro to face N.C. A&T on Sunday.

Hampton pushed league-leading Charleston on Sunday and fell 88-75 to the Cougars. Kayla Lezama recorded a career-high 29 points and Le'Asia Foreman had 16 points and nine boards to pace the Pirates against Charleston.

Lezama leads the team in scoring averaging 13.8 points per game, while Kiki McElrath is next at 12.3 points per game and Aaryn Battle follows at 10.2 points per contest. Battle is second in rebounds at 4.6 per game, while leading in assists (55) and steals (27). Le'Asia Foreman leads in rebounding at 7.6 per game while adding 6.5 points per contest.

As a team, the Pirates are averaging 65.3 points per game and allowing 62.4. On the boards, they trail 38.9-to-36.7 per game. From the field they are hitting 38.4 percent (364-948) and allowing opponents to hit 40.1 percent (357-890). From 3-point range, Hampton is 91-of-326 for 27.9 percent while the opposition is 78-of-274 for 28.5 percent. Hampton has averaged 14.6 turnovers per game and force 18.5 per contest.

In the CAA rankings as of Jan. 15, the Pirates are:
Assist/Turnover Ratio – 3^rd - +0.95
Assists/Game – 3^rd – 13.8
Blocks/Game – 3^rd – 4.3
Off. Rebounds/Game – 5^th – 13.7
Scoring Margin – 5^th - +2.9
Scoring Offense – 4^th – 65.3
Steals/Game – 5^th – 9.3
3FGA/G – 3^rd – 21.7
3pt% Defense – 2^nd - .285
3FGM/G – 3^rd – 6.1
Turnover Margin – 2^nd – 3.93
Opponent TO/G – 3^rd – 18.5
 
ABOUT WILLIAM & MARY (8-7/1-3)
The Tribe, winners of the 2025 CAA Women's Championship, have dropped three straight games falling to Stony Brook (73-57/OT), Charleston (62-60) and Campbell (45-43).  Their lone CAA win thus far was at N.C. A&T to start league play 60-49.

Cassidy Geddes leads the team in scoring (13.5 ppg), second in steals (25) and blocks (12). Natalie Fox is second in scoring (11.5 ppg), leads in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and in blocks (15). Monet Dance rounds out the double figure scorers averaging 10.1 points per game and shares the lead in assists (46) with Alexa Mikeska.

ABOUT N.C. A&T (6-9/1-3)
The Aggies are off on Friday night before they host Hampton on Sunday afternoon inside Corbett Gymnasium. They have lost to W&M, Monmouth (61-55), and Stony Brook (56-51) with a win over Northeastern in double OT (84-83).

D'Mya Tucker leads the Aggies in scoring averaging 10.9 ppg, while second in assists (30) and third in steals (14). Chaniya Clark averages 10.8 points per game, while leading in rebounds (6.8 rpg) and in blocks (16). Paris Locke finishes the double figure scorers averaging 10.3 points per game and is third in rebounding at 5.3 per contest.

LEZAMA GOES OFF .. AGAIN
Junior Kayla Lezama recorded a career-high, for the second straight game, going off for 29 points in the 88-75 loss to Charleston on January 11. She was 11-of-18 from the floor, 6-of-6 from the line and 1-of-2 from 3-point range. That was the second straight game that Lezama recorded a career-high and now leads the CAA in scoring in league games averaging 23.3 points per game.

She had 23 points in the loss at Elon on January 4 to set a then career high.

PIRATES IN JANUARY
In the 51-year history of Hampton University women's basketball, the Pirates are 285-155 in the month of January. On January 16, Hampton is 9-7 with wins over St. Paul's (2), Delaware State, J.C. Smith, Va. Union, Norfolk State, Morgan State, N.C. A&T and N.C. Central.

On January 18, Hampton is 10-7 with wins over Liberty (2), St. Paul's, Elizabeth City State, Va. Union, Florida A&M (2), Coppin State, N.C. Central and Charleston Southern.

ALL-TIME VS. WILLIAM & MARY
Hampton trails the all-time series with the Tribe 18-11 and have lost six straight games. Hampton's last win over the Tribe came in 2009 in a 71-66 decision.

ALL-TIME VS. N.C. A&T
Hampton leads the series with the Aggies 27-21, though the Aggies have won the last seven meetings. The Pirates last defeated N.C. A&T on Feb. 3, 2018 with a 63-51 victory at "Club Corbett."

BREAKING MARKS - DEFENSE
The 54 points allowed to Stony Brook in the CAA opening win was the lowest total against a NCAA Division I opponent this season topping the 55 against Gardner-Webb and Norfolk State.

BREAKING MARKS – OFFENSE
The 75 points scored at Elon by the Pirates were the most in a conference game under head coach Tamisha Augustin. The Pirates did score 75 in a CAA Tournament matchup last season with Monmouth.

Hampton matched that output in their next contest scoring 75 against Charleston on January 11.

BINGO CARD SHOULD BE FULL
Hampton completed a road heavy month of December with several moments of marking items off the proverbial "bingo card". Between a nail in the tire of an airplane causing a delay heading to Orlando, cancelled flight craziness leading to a 6.5 hour bus ride to Eastern Kentucky University from Atlanta, arriving at the hotel in the midst of a midnight monsoon at EKU to leaving with snow flurries later that morning for the game. One would think/hope that the Pirates have now spelled B-I-N-G-O with the month.

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.
So far in 2025-26, the Pirates are 3-4 in games decided by 10 points or less.

FRESHMAN BLOCK PARTY
Freshman Akilah Shelton made her presence known in the HBCU Hoops Invitational in Orlando as she swatted a season-high five shots in each of the two Hampton wins. She had three at Eastern Kentucky and in the CAA opening win over Stony Brook. The Georgia native and has had at least two swats in seven of her 11 games played.

On the season, she has 25 blocked shots to rank second in the CAA and 21st nationally in that category.

KENNEDY AND KENNEDY
Basketball standouts Elijah Kennedy on the men's side and Tyra Kennedy from the Pirates women's team (no relation) have been nominated for the Dean Ehler's Leadership and Sport Excellence Awards. The awards are presented to the men's and women's basketball student-athletes who embody the highest standards of leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship in academic and athletic achievements and community engagement.

NEXT UP
The Pirates will have a home weekend on January 23 (Campbell) and 25 (Elon).