USAF Academy, CO – In the first round of the 2007 Air Force Classic the Lady Pirates of Hampton University (4-2 overall; 0-0 in MEAC) took on host institution Air Force the Lady Falcons (3-3 overall; 0-0 in MVC). Hampton would take Air Force to the wire as the Lady Falcons claimed an 85-84 victory in overtime.  

 

Down by three points in the second half senior guard Artivia Burns hit a three pointer at the buzzer to give the Lady Pirates another life as the game went into overtime. The Lady Falcons took control early in the overtime period but it was not long before Head Coach Mebane and his staff got the ladies geared up and ready to play.

 

Hampton was down by as many as five points in the overtime period but senior guard Rachel Butler would tie the game up with 0:02 seconds left in the overtime period. A late foul call against the Lady Pirates with 0.8 second proved to be costly in the end.  With the foul Air Force’s Kim Kreke was able to go to the free throw line to shoot two. Kreke missed the first but made the second to give the Lady Falcons the go ahead score for the 85-84 overtime victory. 

 

In a game that saw nine ties and six led changes the Lady Pirates made 35-of-93 (37.6%) shots from the floor and 10-of-19 (52.6%) from the charity stripe. Hampton scored 38 points in the paint, 29 points off 18 Air Force turnovers, 24 second chance points, and 17 points off the bench. Led by Burns who had game and season high 29 points, five rebounds, and four assists tonight. Also chipping was freshman forward Quanneisha Perry who recorded her first double-double of her college career with 16 points and 10 boards, also adding 16 points was Butler who also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists on the night. Pamela Findlay led the way for the Lady Falcons with a team high 23 points and seven rebounds in Air Force’s victory.

 

In the first half Hampton started out a little slow but it was not long before they get into the swing of things to go into the half with the score 37-30 in favor of Air Force. Butler scored 10 points in the first half for the Hampton and helped defensively shut Air Force down from making any three’s in the first half.

 

The second half the Lady Pirates really heated things up as they scored 43 points to carry them to the overtime period. Burns scored an amazing 23 points as she made 10-of-13 in the second half alone. Steele scored 12 points for the Lady Falcons in the second that would prove to be just enough for the victory over the Lady Pirates.

 

The Lady Pirates will be back in action on tomorrow at 2:00 pm MST (4:00 pm EST) as they face the loser of the Ohio/Utah Valley game that started at 7:30 pm MST. For more information on the Lady Pirates and all HU Athletics go to www.hamptonpirates.com or contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5811.