Game Notes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Hampton University women's basketball team will hit the road to open the bulk of conference play on Saturday, as the Lady Pirates take on Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. in Moore Gymnasium.
 
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Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (5-9, 1-0 MEAC) fell 75-63 to No. 22 Princeton on Monday at the HU Convocation Center, despite a game-high 23 points from sophomore guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas (Harrisburg, Pa.) and a career-high 19 points from senior guard Kyani White (Manassas, Va.). Junior guard Ryan Jordan (Manassas, Va.) added 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Opponent: Bethune-Cookman (4-10, 1-1 MEAC), in its seventh season under head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis, snapped a five-game losing streak on Saturday, Jan. 3 with a 63-53 win over Western Carolina. Sophomore guard Kendra Cooper is the only player averaging in double figures with 13.3 points per game, and redshirt senior forward Kayla Crawford's 6.6 rebounds per contest lead the team.
   
The Series: The Lady Pirates are 23-7 all-time against Bethune-Cookman, and Hampton has won each of the last four meetings between the two teams — including a 43-35 win at the HU Convocation Center last season. Overall, Hampton has won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams.
 
Lady Pirates Against the MEAC: Hampton is 314-138 against teams currently in the MEAC — including a 26-11 mark against Morgan State — and the Lady Pirates have won eight MEAC regular-season titles to go along with eight tournament titles, including each of the last five. Overall, the Lady Pirates have won their last 50 games against MEAC foes, including conference tournament games.
 
Lady Pirates on the Road: The Lady Pirates were 10-3 in true road games last season, and they closed the 2013-14 campaign with eight straight wins in true road contests. Hampton is 55-24 in road games under head coach David Six after an 86-67 loss to DePaul on Dec. 21, and the Lady Pirates have won at least 10 road games in each of the last four seasons — including a 13-1 mark in true road games back in 2012-13.
  
Lady Pirates Picked to Finish Second: Hampton has been picked to finish second in the MEAC this season in a preseason poll voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. North Carolina A&T, the 2013-14 MEAC runners-up, were chosen to win the conference this season.
 
Tate-DeFreitas, Cole Honored: Tate-DeFreitas was named Preseason First Team All-MEAC by the league's head coaches and sports information directors, while senior guard Kenia Cole (Silver Spring, Md.) was named Preseason Third Team All-MEAC. It was yet another honor for Tate-DeFreitas, the 2013-14 MEAC Rookie of the Year, Second Team All-MEAC selection, VaSID Rookie of the Year, and VaSID Second Team All-State selection.
 
Six Chasing History: In five-plus seasons with the Lady Pirates, Six has won 132 games, making him the program's all-time winningest coach at the Div. I level – surpassing Patricia Cage-Bibbs. The record-breaking win came at Penn on Dec. 5.
 
Lady Pirates Against Power Conferences: In Six's five-plus seasons at the helm, the Lady Pirates have enjoyed success against the six so-called "power conferences:" the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Pac-12, and SEC. After a 44-42 win over Auburn on Dec. 30, the Lady Pirates are 9-17 against teams in these six conferences — including a 2-3 mark last season.
 
Tate-DeFreitas a Scoring Machine: Tate-DeFreitas is coming off a 2013-14 campaign that saw her earn MEAC Rookie of the Year honors after tallying 596 points over the course of her debut season. Through this past Monday's game against Princeton, Tate-DeFreitas ranks second in the MEAC in scoring, and her 872 career points leave her 128 points shy of becoming the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for her career. Tate-DeFreitas also leads the MEAC in minutes played, while ranking third in 3-pointers per game and fourth in steals. The Preseason First Team All-MEAC selection has scored at least 20 points in nine of the Lady Pirates' first 14 games this season, including a season-high 27 at Penn.
 
Ward Crashed the Glass: The Lady Pirates played 33 games in 2013-14, and in 13 of those games, forward Brielle Ward (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed double-digit rebounds — including a school-record 23 against Virginia Tech on Jan. 1. She was second on the team with 8.3 rebounds per game (fourth in the MEAC), and she pulled down 11 boards in a loss at UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 26. She also grabbed 15 rebounds against North Carolina A&T, 13 rebounds at Drexel on Dec. 18, as well as 12 each against Kansas State and Delaware State. She was key in the Lady Pirates' MEAC Tournament championship game against Coppin State, grabbing 10 rebounds and scoring 10 points for her lone double-double of the season.
 
Cole Dishing it Out: Cole, who was a Preseason Third Team All-MEAC selection, currently ranks third in the MEAC in assists and second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio. In her last 21 games of 2013-14, Cole averaged 13.0 points per contest — including her career-best 30-point effort against Virginia Tech on Jan. 1. Cole also had 19 points against Brown on Dec. 29, and in her last 21 games, Cole is 49-for-125 (.392) from 3-point range — and 83-for-210 (.395) from the floor.
 
A Career Day for Hobgood: Redshirt junior forward Tyler Hobgood (Oxford, N.C.) had a career day at Penn, grabbing a career-high 17 rebounds against the Quakers — including nine on the offensive end. Through 14 games so far this season, Hobgood is averaging a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game to rank seventh in the MEAC — after averaging 3.5 boards per contest in 21 games last season, her first with the Lady Pirates after transferring from Miami (Fla.). She is also third in the conference in offensive rebounds.
 
Loaded With Transfers: Of the seven newcomers currently on the Lady Pirates roster, four of them come from other Div. I schools. White transferred over from East Carolina, while junior guard Kristine Rose (Miramar, Fla.) comes over from Xavier and redshirt-junior forward Lindsay Williams (Bowie, Md.) was at Mount St. Mary's before heading to Anne Arundel Community College. In addition, Marshall played at Iona.
 
All They Do is Win: The Lady Pirates came into the 2014-15 season with the best winning percentage among all Div. I programs in the commonwealth of Virginia, sitting at .784 (127-35) in Six's first five years at the helm. Hampton has won 20 games or more in each of Six's five seasons and were on an 18-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in the nation, prior to their NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State.
 
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.