HAMPTON, Va. – Junior Kaylah Lupoe recorded her third double-double in her last four games with a season-high 21 points and matching a season-best with 12 rebounds as the Hampton Lady Pirates opened their home slate with a 71-65 win over Temple on Wednesday.
 
Temple (4-3) opened the game quickly jumping out to a 5-2 lead on a pair of free throws from Alliya Butts.  Hampton (4-5) found its groove and closed the quarter on a 14-2 run as a free throw by Monnazjea Finney-Smith closed the quarter with Hampton up 16-7.
 
The Lady Pirates continued to frustrate the Owls as that run turned into a 29-5 explosion in the second quarter as Hampton outscored Temple 15-3 in the first seven minutes.  A Lupoe jumper with 3:01 left in the half put Hampton up 31-10.  Temple was 3-for-23 from the floor in the first 17 minutes of the game, but closed the half on an 8-2 flurry as a Feyonda Fitzgerald jumper with 38 seconds left trimmed the margin to 33-18 at half.
 
The Owls continued that run to start the second half as they cut the lead to 35-25 on a jumper by Monasia Bolduc with 6:25 left in the third.   Hampton answered that with a run to push the lead back to 19 points on three occasions with a 3-pointer from Finney-Smith closing the third quarter with Hampton up 49-30.
 
In the fourth, Hampton held a 61-45 lead with 4:47 left as Finney-Smith connected on her second 3-pointer of the night.   The Owls soared back into the game on the wings of an 18-6 run to get themselves to 67-63 on a pair of Butts free throws with 25 seconds left.  A pair of free throws from Tate-DeFreitas sandwiched a pair by Ashley Bates helped keep Temple at bay.

Lupoe paced three in double figures with her 21 points and game-high 12 rebounds.  Tate-DeFreitas added 12 points and five assists, while Finney-Smith added 12 and season-highs in rebounds with seven and assists with four.  As a team, Hampton shot 23-of-52 from the floor for a season-best 44.2%.  From 3-point land they were 3-of-9 (33.3%) and at the foul line they were 22-of-43 (51.2%).
 
Temple was topped by Fitzgerald with 29 points and Butts with 17.  The Owls were 10-of-51 in the first three quarters from the field (19.6%) but exploded in the fourth for 35 points on 13-of-23 from the field (56.5%).
 
Hampton is now off until December 15 when they host the Richmond Spiders in a 5:30 pm tip at the Convocation Center.
 
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.