NORFOLK, Va. – In a game that saw 12 lead changes, six in the final six minutes, the Hampton Lady Pirates had several rallies in the second half but fell short losing 61-58 to Old Dominion on Sunday.
 
"I can't be much prouder of my team today," said Hampton Head Coach David Six.  "A couple defensive miscues, but we still had a shot to get it late."
 
The first quarter saw Hampton (5-6) go incredibly cold from the field hitting 3-of-20, but frustrated ODU enough to only trail 12-8 after one.  Jephany Brown got the scoring started for Hampton with a 3-pointer just under a minute into the game, but Hampton stayed off the board until a layup from Malia Tate-DeFreitas with 4:36 left to trail 6-5.
 
A 3-pointer from Tate-DeFreitas gave Hampton an 8-6 lead with 3:09 left, but the Lady Monarchs closed the quarter scoring the last six points to lead 12-8 on a Keyana Brown jumper with 51 seconds left.
 
Old Dominion (5-3) pushed the lead to 22-17 on a Simms layup with 2:52 left in the half, though Hampton responded to take a 23-22 lead with 48 seconds left on a 3-point play by Chanel Green.  A Destinee Young layup and a free throw from Gianna Smith gave the hosts a 25-23 halftime lead.
 
In the third, ODU opened with Simms scoring the first seven points to lead 32-23 with 6:44 left.  That lead stayed at nine with 5:02 left on a jumper from Odegua Oigboike before Hampton started to find the range from 3-point land.  A pair of triples from Tate-DeFreitas and Monnazjea Finney-Smith cut the lead to 34-31 with 3:54 left.
 
ODU found a run to take the advantage back to 43-35 on a 3-pointer from Smith with 1:15 left, but Hampton responded again with the last six points as Finney-Smith hit another 3-pointer with five seconds left to trail 43-41 heading into the fourth.
 
In the fourth, ODU took the lead to six points twice, with a 3-point play by Simms giving the hosts a 50-44 lead with 7:44 left.   Hampton responded again, taking its first lead since 23-22 as Finney-Smith hit a pair of free throws with 5:58 left to lead 51-50.
 
Down the stretch, the lead changed hands six times in the final six minutes.  A 3-pointer from Finney-Smith gave Hampton its largest lead of the day at 56-54 with 2:25 left.  Five straight points by ODU was capped by a Simms 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to lead 59-56.
 
Tate-DeFreitas hit a layup with 27 seconds left to trim the margin to 59-58, and had a shot to take the lead but a Green layup bounced off with 20 seconds.   After forcing ODU to the line, Simms hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to lead 61-58.  Hampton had one last look and a solid shot by Finney-Smith from 3-point land hit the front of the rim.
 
Leading Hampton in scoring was Tate-DeFreitas with 21 points and a season-high five 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds and three assists.   Finney-Smith had her second straight game in double figures with 13 points and five rebounds.  Kaylah Lupoe was a force inside with 10 points, eight rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots.
 
Hampton is now off until the Florida Gulf Coast University Classic on December 29 when they'll face the hosts at 7 pm in Fort Myers, Florida.
 
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.