Women's Basketball Opens Season At Houston Monday Afternoon

WHO	Hampton (10-21 in 2025-26) at Houston (7-23 in 2025-26)
WHEN	1pm EST (12 p.m. CST) Monday
WHERE	Fertitta Center - Houston, Texas
LIVE STATS	here
LIVE STREAM	ESPN+

HAMPTON, Va. (Nov. 1, 2026) … The 2026-27 Hampton University women's basketball team will crank up its 2026-27 season on Monday with a 1 p.m. EST (12 p.m. CST) at the University of Houston.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and will have live stats available.

This will be the first time Hampton has faced Houston in women's basketball.

ABOUT HAMPTON

Hampton finished 10-22 last season and 4-14 in CAA play
All-time vs. Big 12 conference opponents Hampton is 2-8 with wins over Kansas in 2001 (67-63) and Kansas State in 2013 (86-75 in 2OT)
They have also played Iowa State, TCU, Central Florida and West Virginia
Hampton returns top three scorers in Kiki McElrath (13.2 ppg), Kayla Lezama (12.4 ppg) and Aaryn Battle 7.9 ppg).
Along with Arlisha Boston (1.3 ppg), the Pirates return 57.8% of their scoring from 2025-26.
Hampton brought in a nine-player recruiting class with six having previous collegiate expernce

ABOUT HOUSTON

The Cougars were 7-23 last season and 1-17 in the Big 12
First of two Power Four schools to start the season for Hampton – visiting SMU on Thursday
Jorynn Ross is the lone returner from last season when she averaged 3.7 points per game
Houston brought in five players with NCAA Division I experience from Texas, San Diego State. Western Illinois, Oregon and Tarleton State.

TRIPLE ME – TIMES 11
In the last two games of the 2025-26 season, the Pirates were consistent from behind the arc hitting 11-of-31 against William & Mary and then 11-of-28 against Elon in the CAA Tournament. The 11 three-pointers equal the eighth most in a game in school history. The last time Hampton had more than 11 in a game was in 2021 against USC Upstate when they tied the single-game mark of 14 triples, while the 31 attempts equal the sixth most in a game in school history.

LEZAMA EARNS ALL-CAA
Junior Kayla Lezama was named to the 2025-26 Third Team All-CAA squad as the postseason honors were released by the league. A Boston native, Lezama was 12th in scoring in the league (12.4 ppg), 11th in FT% (.770), 15th in 3PT made per game (1.5). In league games, she was 11th in scoring (13.1 ppg), 21st in FG% (.363), leads in 3PT% (.389), second in FT% (.900), 10th in 3PT made per game (1.6) and 24th in blocks per game (0.6).
She had a season high of 29 points at home against Charleston, seven rebounds against Delaware State at home, four assists against Charleston and at UNCW, two blocks against N.C. A&T and Drexel and four steals at Eastern Kentucky.
She was the third Pirate to make All-CAA as Nylah Young was a third-team pick in 2023 and Camrynn Hill was also a third-team pick in 2024.

RECORD BOOK TWEAKING
Several tweaks have been made in the record books in the 2025-26 season:
• 3-pointers made: 11 v. Elon – T6th most in a game
• 3-pointers attempted: 31 v. W&M – T8th most in a game
• Fewest Points Allowed Game – 21 v. Apprentice School – fewest in school history
• Margin of Victory: 84 points v. Apprentice School – 2nd largest in history and largest in NCAA Division I era
• Field goals made – game: 45 v. Apprentice School – most in NCAA Division I era
• Field goal attempts – 87 v. Apprentice School – 4th most in NCAA Division I era
• Assists in game – 26 v. Apprentice School – 3rd most in NCAA Division I era
• Points Scored in game – 105 v. Apprentice School – 3rd most in NCAA Division I era
• Fewest Points Scored in game – 35 at Gardner-Webb – 8th fewest in NCAA Division I era
• Fewest Points allowed in CAA game – 35 at Gardner-Webb – 8th fewest in NCAA Division I era
• The 51.7% shooting from the field was the first time that the Pirates have been over 50% from the field since the end of the 2018-19 season when they hit 53% against High Point.
• The 10 assists for Olivia Smith against Apprentice School were the most in a game since Amyah Reaves dished 10 helpers against Gardner-Webb on Dec. 17, 2024.

BATTLE RETURNED…TO FANFARE
Sewell, New Jersey native and junior guard Aaryn Battle returned to action at Drexel after missing seven games on Feb. 6 to a friendly return as her high school basketball team, Camden Catholic, were sitting behind the Pirates bench cheering on their alum. She had five points, four rebounds and four assists in her return to the court.

LEZAMA HITS HER HOMETOWN
Playing in front of over 50 family members in her hometown of Boston, Kayla Lezama and Team Lezama, made an impact down the stretch of Hampton's 77-71 win over Northeastern. The family made enough noise down the stretch as Northeastern missed three out of four free throws in a crucial stretch with two minutes left and Hampton holding a 69-67 lead. Lezama had a steal in the final 30 seconds and hit one of two free throws for the final margin.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE LIST
The Pirates have had three triple-doubles in the NCAA Division I Era (1995-present). LaShondra Dixon had the first one on Feb. 12, 2001 against Coppin State as she had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Almost two years later, also against Coppin State, Lynetta Sullivan had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Jan. 13, 2003.
The last triple-double for Hampton University was done by Malia Tate-DeFreitas on Jan. 9, 2016 against Bethune-Cookman as she had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

BREAKING MARKS - DEFENSE
The 48 points allowed to UNCW on Jan. 30 was the lowest against a NCAA Division I opponent last season. William & Mary scored 49 against the Pirates on Jan. 16 and Stony Brook scored 54 points in the CAA opener.
Those 48 points are also the second lowest allowed in a CAA contest since Hampton joined the league. Hofstra scored 42 points in falling 49-42 to Hampton on Mar. 1, 2024.

BREAKING MARKS – OFFENSE
The 77 points in the win at Northeastern on Mar. 1 were the most scored by the Pirates in a Coastal Athletic Association game under head coach Tamisha Augustin. They had scored 75 points against Elon on Jan. 4, 2026, against Charleston on Jan. 11, 2026 and in the CAA Tournament last year against Monmouth.

PLAYED THEM TIGHT
In the last two seasons under head coach Tamisha Augustin, the Pirates have been 12-21 in games decided by 10 or fewer points. In her first season, Hampton was 7-11 and had seven of their last 10 games decided by 10 or fewer points. In the 2025-26 season, Hampton was 5-10 including wins at Norfolk State (57-55) and over Buffalo in Puerto Rico (58-56).

OH CAPTAIN – MY QUAD-CAPTAINS
The Hampton Pirates named quad-captains for the 2026-27 season in Kayla Lezama, Kiki McElrath, Arlisha Boston and Maya Woodson.

NEXT UP
Hampton heads to Dallas to take on SMU in another Kid's Day game starting at 11 a.m. CST on Thursday.

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Players Mentioned

Aaryn Battle

Arlisha Boston

Kayla Lezama

Kiki McElrath

Olivia Smith

Maya Woodson

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