Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University women's basketball team defeated No. 8 seed South Carolina State 78-55 in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament on Wednesday at the Joel Coliseum.

The top-seeded Lady Pirates (23-6) picked up their 11th straight win overall and their sixth straight over SCSU. They advance to Friday's semifinal, where they will take on either No. 4 Florida A&M or No. 5 Coppin State at 12 p.m.

Junior guard Choicetta McMillian (Fairfield, Texas) led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, going 7-for-11 from 3-point range. Junior forward Melanie Warner (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 15 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) came off the bench to score 12 points.

Senior forward Quanneisha Perry (Decatur, Ga.) scored 11 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while junior guard Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 assists.

McMillian set a new MEAC Tournament record in 3-pointers made, while Jenkins set a new tournament record for assists in a game.

The Lady Pirates opened the game on a 16-4 run, during which time McMillian hit three of her treys. Warner hit a fast-break layup with 16:15 left in the first half to cap the run, before SCSU scored eight straight to cut Hampton's lead to 16-12 at the 12:39 mark on a Whitney Wiley jumper.

Hampton then scored seven unanswered points, with McMillian hitting another 3-pointer at the 10:13 mark to put the Lady Pirates up 23-12. Hampton led by as many as 19 in the first half, before going into the locker room up 42-25 at the intermission.

McMillian had six 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

Tiana Hemphill hit a free throw with 16:34 left to play to cut Hampton's lead to 48-31, but the Lady Pirates answered with an 11-1 run to go up 59-32, their largest lead of the game, with 12:19 to play after a McMillian free throw.

SCSU would get to as close to 16, when Tracey Flowers hit a 3-pointer with 4:37 to play to cut Hampton's lead to 69-53, but the Lady Pirates out-scored the Lady Bulldogs 9-2 down the stretch.

The Lady Pirates shot 49.0 percent (25-for-51) from the floor and made 12 of their 21 3-pointers (57.1 percent). Hampton also shot 76.2 percent (16-for-21) from the free throw line. Hampton also held a 31-27 rebounding edge, and the Lady Pirates forced SCSU into 20 turnovers.

The Lady Pirates scored 27 points off those turnovers.

SCSU (12-17) shot 39.1 percent (18-for-46) from the floor and made just five of their 14 3-pointers. Flowers led the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points, while Tiara Knotts added 10 points.

For more information on the 2011 MEAC Tournament, visit www.MEAChoops.com. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.