HAMPTON, Va. – A blistering second half shooting for Hampton University helped the Lady Pirates pull away Thursday night for a 72-45 win over Richmond in front of 1,234 at the HU Convocation Center.
 
K'lynn Willis was the leading scorer for Hampton on the night with a season-high 17 points to lead three in double figures.   Kaylah Lupoe added 16 points, seven rebounds and a season-high four blocked shots, while Monnazjea Finney-Smith had 10 points and four rebounds.  The win for Hampton (5-5) was its fifth in the last six games.
 
The first quarter saw Willis score nine points in the last five minutes as part of an 11-3 run over the last 5:49 to end the quarter with a jumper for a 15-7 Hampton lead.
 
Richmond (4-6) clawed its way back into the contest in the second quarter trimming the margin to two on two occasions.  The last one being a 3-pointer from Ragan Wiseman with 3:54 left to bring the Spiders to down 22-20.  A Lupoe free throw with 1:11 left finished the scoring in the first half as Hampton held a 27-22 lead.
 
In the third quarter, Hampton found its range from the field hitting 7-of-14.   After Richmond's Micaela Parson hit a couple free throws 11 seconds into the quarter, Hampton went on a 12-3 run over the next 5:31 to lead 39-27 on a Willis layup with 4:18 left.   A layup from Finney-Smith pushed the lead to 49-34 at the end of the quarter.
 
That run picked up more steam to start the fourth as Hampton scored 13 of the first 15 points in the quarter as a Malia Tate-DeFreitas layup off a feed from Finney-Smith put the Lady Pirates up 62-36 with 6:15 left in the game. 
 
Hampton was 10-of-15 from the floor (66.7%) in the final 10 minutes as they finished hitting 28-of-64 (43.8%) from the field, 4-of-16 from 3-point range (25%) and 12-of-16 from the foul line (75%).  The Lady Pirates outrebounded Richmond 40-36 and forced the Spiders into 23 turnovers, which Hampton converted into 22 points.
 
Janelle Hubbard topped Richmond with 12 points.  The Spiders were 15-of-52 from the field (28.8%), 6-of-17 from 3-point range (35.3%) and 9-of-14 from the foul line (64.3%).
 
Hampton now will go across the Hampton Roads Tunnel on Sunday to take on the Lady Monarchs of Old Dominion University in an approximately 5pm tip at the Constant Center in Norfolk.  The game will follow an ODU men's game.
 
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.