RADFORD, Va. —CeCe Thomas scored 14 points and Jasha Clinton added 13 for Hampton on Thursday, but homestanding Radford went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the last minute to take a 65-55 victory on Education Day at the Dedmon Center.
“I thought we got better today against a well coached Radford team in a great and loud environment on their Education Day. Our defense worked hard today and unfortunately when we did make a mistake, Radford took advantage. We forced them into 28 turnovers along with 18 offensive rebounds. We just needed to capitalize on those opportunities. We’re growing and will be better,” said Hampton University Head Coach Tamisha Augustin.
Hampton (1-1) trimmed a fourth quarter deficit to one twice, with the last being at 49-48 after a Clinton three-point play with 6:13 left. Radford (1-1) answered with an 8-0 run to gain a nine-point advantage at 57-48 following a Makayla Firebaugh jumper with one minute left.
The Lady Pirates scored five straight points, four of those by Clinton to trim the deficit to 57-53 at the 1:25 mark following a Clinton corner jumper which was as close as Hampton got.
Hampton opened the game on an 8-2 run as a Le’Asia Foreman bucket at the 4:31 mark. A swarming defense forced seven turnovers in the first quarter as after Radford trimmed the lead to 8-6, a layup from Amyah Reaves and a pair of Clinton free throws gave Hampton a 12-6 lead after one period.
Radford turned the tide in the second as they opened the quarter on a 9-2 run to take their first lead at 15-14 on a steal and layup by Cate Carlson with 6:03 remaining. Hampton answered quickly with layups from Foreman and CeCe Thomas to regain the lead at 18-15 with 5:05 on the clock.
A Foreman layup with 2:01 left kept Hampton with a three-point margin at 24-21, though the hosts scored the last five points of the half on a Joi Williams 3-ball and a pair of Adelyn Traylor-Walker free throws to take a 26-24 lead at intermission.
Radford opened the third quarter on a 9-4 burst highlighted by a Williams jumper for a 35-28 lead with 5:57 on the clock. Hampton scored eight of the next 10 points as a Foreman steal and layup cut the deficit to 37-36 with 3:06 left in the third.
Just missing out on double figures for Hampton were Arina Nikishina and Foreman with eight points apiece. Hampton on the game hit 34.9% from the field (22-of-63) and 78.6% from the foul line (11-of-14).The rebound battle was even at 35-all as Reaves had nine and Jenae Dublin added a season high seven.
Radford was paced by Williams with 13, Carlson and Adriana Shipp-Davis with 12 each and Firebaugh adding 11. The Highlanders were 22-of-44 from the floor (50%), 5-of-17 from 3-point range (29.4%) and 16-of-24 from the line (66.7%). Hampton forced the hosts into 28 turnovers.
The Lady Pirates are back home on November 16 hosting Norfolk State at 5 p.m. in the Battle of the Bay.