Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. – The Hampton University women's basketball team close out the regular season on Thursday, when they head to Echols Hall to take on rival Norfolk State at 6 p.m.
 
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At Stake: With a win, the Lady Pirates would clinch the No. 1 seed in next week's MEAC Tournament and at least a share of the conference's regular season title. Hampton has won each of the last five MEAC regular season championships.
 
Last Time Out: The Lady Pirates (13-15, 11-4 MEAC) fell 89-81 to Delaware State in their 2015-16 home finale this past Monday, despite 35 points from junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas. Freshman guard Dejane' James added 12 points, while both Tate-DeFreitas and sophomore forward Kaylah Lupoe grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
 
The Series: The Lady Pirates are 55-33 against Norfolk State, and Hampton has won 19 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams — including a 73-62 win at the Convocation Center earlier this season.
    
Scouting the Spartans: Norfolk State (2-23, 2-13 MEAC), under interim head coach Larry Vickers, has lost four straight after Monday's 64-63 loss to Howard. Redshirt senior forward Siobhan Beslow is the team's leading scorer, with 10.6 points per game, and the Spartans' top rebounder, grabbing 9.3 boards per contest. Sophomore forward Kayla Roberts is averaging 9.7 points and 7.6 rebounds a game.
 
Lady Pirates Against the MEAC: Hampton is 337-145 against teams currently in the MEAC — including a 55-33 mark against Norfolk State — and the Hampton has won eight MEAC regular-season titles to go along with eight tournament titles, including five of the last six.
 
Lady Pirates on the Road: The Lady Pirates were 9-9 in true road games last season, marking the first time since the 2009-10 season they did not post a winning record on the road. In their first six-plus seasons under head coach David Six, the Lady Pirates are a combined 67-37 in road games after a 63-54 win at Delaware State on Feb. 22. In 2012-13, Hampton was 13-1 on the road, and from 2010-11 through 2013-14 — a span of four seasons — Hampton was a combined 47-11 on the road.
   
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. The Lady Pirates were regular-season champions for the fifth straight year last season after going 14-2 in league play. For the second straight season, North Carolina A&T has been chosen to win the MEAC.
 
Preseason Honors: Tate-DeFreitas was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, after earning the conference's top individual honor a season ago, and senior guard Ryan Jordan was named Preseason Third Team All-MEAC. The preseason teams were voted on by the MEAC's head coaches and sports information directors.
 
Tate-DeFreitas Moving on Up: Twenty-eight games into the 2015-16 season, junior guard Malia Tate-DeFreitas is third on the Lady Pirates' all-time scoring list with 1,868 career points — after just two-plus seasons of play. The reigning MEAC Player of the Year is averaging 20.1 points in 93 career games thus far, and she is 99 points shy of second on the list (LaShondra Dixon-Gordon, 1999-2003, 1,967 career points). Jackie Dolberry (1985-89) is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,727 career points. LaShondra Dixon-Gordon (1999-2003) is the program's all-time Div. I leading scorer, ranking second overall with 1,967 career points.
 
Lupoe Coming Along: Lupoe was a force to be reckoned with in the closing stages of the 2014-15 season. Averaging 4.3 points and 2.9 rebounds a game for the year, Lupoe upped those averages to 14.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over the last seven games of the regular season. She had three double-doubles during that stretch, including a 20-point, 13-rebound effort at Howard and a 25-point, 11-rebound game at Delaware State. Lupoe ended the regular season with three straight 20-point games, and she started in four of Hampton's last five games. During that seven game span, the team averaged over 78 points per game. Lupoe is averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game.
 
All They Do is Win: The Lady Pirates come into the 2015-16 season with the second-highest winning percentage among all Div. I women's basketball programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In Six's first six years at the helm, the Lady Pirates were 146-48 overall (a .753 winning percentage), behind only James Madison in terms of winning percentage. Hampton has won at least 20 games in five of Six's first six seasons, and the Lady Pirates won 19 games last season.
 
Defense, Defense, Defense: Defense has been a staple of the Lady Pirates during Six's tenure. The MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award has gone to a Hampton player four times in the last six seasons, and in each of those six seasons, the Lady Pirates have ranked top 50 nationally in scoring defense. Hampton led all Div. I teams in scoring defense in 2012-13, holding opponents to 47.8 points per game. In 2011-12, Hampton was second in the nation, behind UConn, in scoring defense, giving up 47.6 points per game. This past season, Hampton was 50th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 58.5 points per game. In addition, the Lady Pirates were seventh in the nation in steals last season, averaging 11.4 per game.
 
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.