Hampton 68, Morgan State 37
BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 10, 2011)-Nicole Hamilton, playing in her fifth game at Hampton, scored a game-high 17 points, while Choicetta McMillian added 16 points to lead the visiting Lady Pirates to a 68-37 victory over Morgan State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game at Hill Field House on Monday evening.
Melanie Warner came off the bench and contributed 14 points, while Quanneisha Perry pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds for the Lady Pirates who have won nine of their last 10 games and now hold a 20-11 all-time series lead over Morgan State.
In last year's regular season meeting, Hampton had no problem handling Morgan State, handing the Lady Bears a 74-37 thumping in a nationally televised game on ESPNU at the HU Convocation Center.
This time the game was not televised and while it wasn't completely a one-sided slugfest from start to finish like last season's game, the Lady Pirates were still effective in holding Morgan State to just 37 points for the second consecutive year.
Hampton (10-5, 3-0 MEAC) began the game using an 11-0 spurt to take an early 13-2 advantage less than six minutes into the game, then put together a 19-2 run to extend its cushion to 32-6 with 5:21 left in the opening half.
Morgan State finally reached double digits, nearly 17 minutes into the game, following a three-point basket by Mahala Thomas with 3:03 to play and make it a 34-10 game. Thomas' basket triggered a 7-0 Morgan State run, but it was the guests who held a 36-14 advantage at the break.
The Lady Bears (7-7, 2-1 MEAC), who have fallen to 3-4 at home this season, were led by Brittany Dodson, who finished with 12 points. Mahala Thomas came off the bench to added seven points all in the first half and Erin Hawkins scored six points in the loss.
The guests would use a 9-0 run in the second half to take a 55-28 lead and later went on an 8-2 run to up their advantage to 30 points (65-35) with 1:15 remaining in the contest.
Hampton outrebounded Morgan State 51-30 and forced 14 turnovers. Morgan State shot 15-of-51 (29 percent), while the Lady Pirates shot 23-of-58 (39 percent) from the floor. The guests connected on 16-for-22 from the charity stripe and Morgan State shot just 3-for-11.
The Lady Bears continue their four-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 15, when they take on the Lady Bulldogs of South Carolina State. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Hill Field House.
