HAMPTON, Va. – Hampton's Kaylah Lupoe poured in a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting to pace three players in double figures, as the Pirates utilized a first half run en route to a 66-40 victory over the Longwood women's basketball team Tuesday night at the HU Convocation Center.

In the first matchup between the two schools since Hampton joined the Big South on July 1, 2018, Hampton used a 17-4 run midway through the first half to take a 15-point halftime advantage. The win for the Pirates (8-7, 4-0 Big South) helped them remain as the Big South's final unbeaten team in conference play and atop the league standings.

"We struggled once again on the defensive end, it's something that we're really focusing on," said Longwood first-year head coach Rebecca Tillett. "There is a toughness that comes with defense well and we're really trying to find that consistent toughness from our women in defensive sets."

Coming off a career-high 28 points against Charleston Southern, Longwood (1-13, 0-4 Big South) sophomore guard Stephanie Guihon scored in double figures for the fourth time in a five-game span with a team-high 14 points. Dayna Rouse joined Guihon with her fourth straight game in double figures, as she finished with 12 points.

Lupoe led a Pirates team that shot .464 from the floor, as she was joined in double figures with a 12-point performance by Laren Vanarsdale. Ashley Bates, who came into the night as the Big South's second leading scorer, added 11 points, five rebounds and seven steals while Mahaley Holit finished with seven points, 11 assists.

Hampton put together its top defensive performance of the season, limiting Longwood to .250 shooting while forcing the Lancers into 23 turnovers.
With her second career 20-point effort Saturday, Guihon followed up that performance with her eighth game of the season in double figures. The Largo, Md., product In her last three games, has averaged 16.7 points per game to move into the top five in Big South play in scoring and moved her season scoring average to 12.0 points per game.

"Steph's working really hard to be the type of point guard that we want," Tillett said. "We challenged her the last two games to have three or less turnovers. She's accomplished that goal and that's impressive to us as coaches. Of course, her ability to score is helping our team but we're still challenging her as well on the defensive end."

Rouse, Longwood's leading scorer, has scored in double figures in 10 of Longwood's 14 games, as she neared her second double-double performance of the season with 12 points, eight rebounds while adding two assists in 32 minutes.  

Longwood returns to Willett Hall Saturday, Jan. 19 to host Big South preseason favorite Radford. That game is set for a 3 p.m. opening tip and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

"This is a difficult stretch in our schedule but we want to be a team that will battle in the Big South," Tillett said. "We'll continue to take a hard look at our defense before we play Radford and we're looking forward to a challenge."

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