Game Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will begin defense of its back-to-back MEAC Tournament titles on Wednesday, taking on No. 9 seed Norfolk State in the quarterfinal round at 12 p.m. at the Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The top-seeded Lady Pirates (23-4) come into the tournament on an eight-game winning streak, having closed the regular season on March 1 with an 85-36 win at North Carolina Central. Senior guards Choicetta McMillian (Fairfield, Texas) and Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) each led the way with 18 points.

Sophomore guard Nicole Hamilton (Hampton, Va.) added 12 points and sophomore forward Alyssa Bennett (Hampton, Va.) scored 10 points.

Norfolk State (12-16) beat No. 8 seed Bethune-Cookman 51-41 on Monday in the first round of the MEAC Tournament. Sophomore guard Rae Corbo led the way with 10 points, while sophomore forward Rachel Gordon pulled down a team-high 16 rebounds and junior center Batavia Owens added 12 boards.

Norfolk State went 9-19 last season, finishing 11th in the MEAC with a 2-14 in conference play. Norfolk State, led by third-year head coach Debra Clark (who played at Hampton from 1979-82), returns four starters and nine letterwinners from last season, and the Spartans were picked to finish 13th in the league this year before finishing ninth.

Senior guard Whitney Long leads the team in scoring, pouring in 14.3 points per game, while Corbo is averaging 11.8 points per contest. Gordon is the team and MEAC leader in rebounding, pulling down 10.5 boards a game.

Norfolk State is scoring 63.3 points per game, while giving up 66.5 points a contest.

Hampton is 48-32 all-time against Norfolk State, having won the last 12 meetings between the two teams, including a sweep of both regular season meetings. Norfolk State last beat Hampton on Dec. 2, 2006, 70-66 in Echols Hall. As a Div. I program, the Lady Pirates are 28-4 against the Spartans, and Hampton is 8-4 all-time against Norfolk State on neutral courts.

The Lady Pirates are 275-136 all-time against teams currently in the MEAC. Hampton has a winning record against every MEAC school. In addition, Hampton has won or shared regular-season MEAC titles five times (1998-99, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2010-11, 2011-12) and claimed five MEAC Tournament crowns (2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011).

The Lady Pirates have only had one neutral-court game so far this season, defeating Central Michigan 77-51 in the Tulane/DoubleTree Classic in New Orleans, La. on Dec. 28. Hampton was 4-1 on neutral courts last season, its lone loss coming in overtime to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

As head coach, David Six is 9-3 on neutral courts — including back-to-back MEAC Tournament titles.

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.