COLUMBIA, SC – After a frigid start, Hampton used a pair of big runs to get ahead as the Lady Pirates defeated Maine 58-49 in day three of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday.
 
Hampton opened the game incredibly cold hitting 3-of-17 from the floor in the first ten minutes.  Maine jumped out to a 13-4 lead on a jumper by Walding with 52 seconds left.   A three-point play from Ashley Bates with 18 seconds left brought Hampton to down 13-7 after one.
 
In the second, Hampton went on a 13-2 run over a 3:42 span to get back into the contest as Malia Tate-DeFreitas hit a pair of layups and a jumper from K'Lynn Willis put Hampton up 24-18 with 3:42.  Maine closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 27-26 with a three-point play from Anita Kelava with 47 seconds left.
 
To start the third, the lead went back-and-forth as a Sigi Koizar jumper put the Black Bears up 31-30 with 5:23 left.  Hampton (2-4) closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to lead 41-33 as Tate-DeFreitas scored the last five with a layup and a pull-up 3-pointer.
 
Hampton took its largest lead of the day on a Tate-DeFreitas 3-pointer with nine minutes left to go up 46-35.   Maine (2-4) made a push to get within 46-42 scoring seven straight points as a Koizar 3-pointer with 6:01 left.  The Lady Pirates quickly pushed the lead back to ten points scoring the next six points with a layup by Ashley Bates taking the lead back to 52-42 with 4:45 left.
 
Tate-DeFreitas scored 24 points with five rebounds and four assists.   She passed Cathy Robinson of Florida A&M for sixth now on the all-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference scoring list as she now has 2,044 points. 
 
Kaylah Lupoe recorded the first double-double of the season for Hampton with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Bates matched her season high with nine points.
 
Hampton will now close out the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge on Sunday afternoon against Lafayette College at 3:30 pm in the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Mass.
 
For more information on Hampton University women's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5906 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.