HAMPTON, Va. – Behind a swarming defense that forced North Carolina Central into 36 turnovers and 24.1% field goal shooting, Hampton University defeated the visiting Eagles 60-36 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matchup on Monday afternoon.

Hampton (10-7, 4-0) opened by forcing five Eagle turnovers in the first 3:30 and used a 3-pointer from Adria Strothers to lead 6-2 at the 6:31 mark of the first.   After a jumper from Morgan Jones to bring the Eagles to 10-6 with 4:54 left in the first, Hampton went on a 10-3 run to close the quarter as a Dejane' James free throw gave Hampton a 20-9 lead after one quarter.

In the second, Hampton went on a 10-2 run over nearly a three-minute span to lead 34-13 on a pair of Ashley Bates free throws with 4:33 left.  Layups from Jones and Deja McCain trimmed the margin at half to 36-19.

Hampton started the second half holding the visitors scoreless for almost the first nine minutes as a 3-pointer from Strothers and a free throw from Bates put the Lady Pirates up 48-19 with 75 seconds left in the quarter.  A pair of Jones 3-pointers brought NCCU to 48-25 after three.

An even fourth quarter saw the Eagles get the margin to 21 points twice, but a layup from James closed the scoring for Hampton to lead 60-34 with 37 seconds left.

The Lady Pirates recorded 17 steals on the night with Georgianna Gilbeaux swiping a career-best nine of those.  Her total is the third highest in school history and the most in a game since a school record 11 by Lashondra Dixon against South Carolina State on March 3, 2003.

Kaylah Lupoe joined Gilbeaux making a mark in the record books on Monday night as she swatted a career-best matching six shots which is the second most in a game in school history.  She did that against Howard on Feb. 9, 2015 and trails the shared record of eight.

K'lynn Willis topped Hampton in scoring with 14 points, while Monnazjea Finney-Smith had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.  Lupoe had seven points, six rebounds, six blocked shots and a career-high four assists.

Hampton will now go across the water to tangle with Norfolk State on Saturday at 4 pm in Joe Echols Hall.

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.