HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 20, 2026) … The visiting Drexel Dragons made 4-of-5 free throws in the last four minutes and held off a furious Hampton comeback attempt to defeat the Pirates 50-47 in front of 1,078 in the HU Convocation Center Friday night.

"I am extremely pleased with the effort tonight. I told them we needed to put team defense first and they did. We had chances late, but just couldn't get one to go," said Hampton head coach Tamisha Augustin.

The Pirates held a 38-33 lead heading into the fourth, but Drexel opened with an 8-1 run as Julia Garcia Roig hit a pair of free throws at the 6:04 mark. That lead grew to six points as Grace O'Neil drained a pair of free throws with 3:59 on the clock.

Hampton forced its way back into the contest and trimmed the deficit to 47-46 on a Kiya Dorroh jumper with 85 seconds left. A frantic charge saw several turnovers from Drexel, but Hampton couldn't find an opening to gain the lead back. Grace O'Neill hit a pair from the charity stripe with 19 seconds to push the lead to three. McElrath made one with 7.8 seconds and Garcia Roig hit one with 7.2  left for the final margin.

The Pirates opened the game with a driving layup from Olivia Smith 55 seconds into the contest. That was in stark contrast to the meeting between the teams two weeks ago in Philadelphia, when Hampton missed its first 24 shots.

Drexel responded with the next nine points to take a 9-2 lead on an Amaris Baker triple with 6:19 remaining which forced a Hampton timeout. The margin grew to 13-4 on a Deja Evans layup with 3:45 on the clock for what turned into the largest lead of the night for the Dragons.

The Pirates closed the opening quarter on an 8-2 burst as Kayla Lezama jumper with 77 seconds on the clock brought the Pirates to 15-12 as the first quarter closed.

Drexel helped a three-point lead following a pair of Mariah Watkins free throws with 7:48 left in the half at 18-15. Hampton regained momentum on the strength of a 9-2 run to gain a 24-20 lead on a Kiki McElrath pull up jumper at the 2:28 mark of the half. The Dragons tied the game at 24 as Laine McGuirk hit a jumper just before the halftime horn.

Hampton took the lead in the third quarter on a McElrath three-ball and pushed the advantage to six at 34-28 as Aaryn Battle had a pull up jumper with 4:48 remaining. The Dragons scored five straight to trim the deficit to one, but Hampton got two Battle free throws and a jumper from Aisha Dabo to lead by five heading into the final period.

McElrath had 19 points to lead the Pirates, while Lezama added eight. Battle dished out seven assists and Akilah Shelton had four points, four rebounds and four blocked shots. Dorroh added a career-best seven boards as the Pirates were outrebounded 39-37.

The Pirates are back at home on Sunday in a noon tip against Monmouth.