Sellers connected on five three-pointers in the second half against Hampton.
HAMPTON, Va. (Jan. 28, 2008)-It’s a known fact that when you play at Hampton, whether the Lady Pirates are good or not, you have to come to play. Just two days ago the Lady Pirates shot 43 free throws in Saturday’s home loss to Coppin State. Today, they shot 49 free throws and this time the visiting team, Morgan State, wasn’t as lucky, as Hampton defeated the Lady Bears, 67-61, on Monday evening in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at the HU Convocation Center.
The win ended Morgan’s season-long four-game winning streak, three-game winning streak over the Lady Pirates and knocked Morgan State out of second in the league standings.
Chinyere Ukoh recorded a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Rachel Butler also tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Artavia Burns added 12 points for the Lady Pirates, who improved to 11-7 overall and 5-1 in the MEAC.
Morgan State (11-7, 5-2 MEAC) was led by Corin Adams’ 16 points and seven rebounds, while Jasmine Sellers scored 15 points on five three-pointers, all in the second half. Brittany Dodson added 13 points for the Lady Bears, who for the second time this season, failed to record five consecutive wins.
Hampton could not buy a basket in the second half, shooting 33 percent (7-of-21) from the field in the period. But they didn’t need to score field goals, since they went to the free throw line 32 times and connected on 20 of them (65 percent). Morgan State was 4-for-5 (80 percent) in the period at the free throw line.
Matter of fact, 16 of the Lady Pirates’ final 22 points came by way of the free throw line.
Morgan State, which trailed 33-29 at the break, quickly came to life on the outside shooting of Sellers. Sellers connected on four straight treys, in the midst of a 12-2 run to give the guests a 41-37 advantage with 16:01 remaining in the contest.
Morgan State however, would again go on a scoring drought of missed layups and had breakdowns on the defensive end, allowing the Lady Pirates to reclaim the lead on two free throws by Butler, giving Hampton a 49-48 lead.
Butler would knock down two more free throws, before Quanneisha Perry scored a basket to end a five minute drought without a field goal for the Lady Pirates and put the home team up, 53-51.
Trailing by three (56-53), Adams would complete a three-point play with a layup and free throw to even the score at 56 all with 4:15 remaining. After a mini 5-0 run by the Lady Pirates to extend their lead to 61-56, Sellers connected on her fifth and final three-pointer of the game, to cut the deficit to 61-59 with 1:55 left.
Hampton, however, would close out the game by hitting six free throws down the stretch for the victory.
The Lady Pirates shot 33 percent (17-of-51) for the game, including 1-of-7 (14 percent) from three-point range, while Morgan was 20-for-70 (28 percent) and 6-of-24 (25 percent) from beyond the arc. The Lady Pirates held a 50-43 rebounding advantage over Morgan State, but the Lady Bears’ bench outscored the hosts, 32-8.
Hampton, which shot 30 more free throws than the Lady Bears, finished 65 percent from the charity stripe, while connecting on 32 out of a ridiculous 49 attempts. Morgan went 15-of-19 for 79 percent.
The Lady Bears return home for a season-long four-game homestand, beginning with a MEAC match up against Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
