NORFOLK, Va. – Aivah Parham led the Norfolk State women's basketball team with 12 points and five rebounds but it was not enough as the Spartans suffered a 76-41 loss to Hampton on Saturday afternoon in Joseph Echols Hall. NSU hasn't defeated the Lady Pirates in six years.

Hampton improved to 6-0 in the MEAC and 15-5 on the season while NSU fell to 1-6 in the conference and 3-15 overall.

Hampton got on the board first as Nicole Hamilton made a layup with 16:51 left in the first half to cap a 9-2 run by the Lady Pirates.

The Spartans responded on the other end with a layup from junior Rachel Gordon with 16:28 remaining to keep NSU within five as they trailed Hampton, 9-4.

Keiara Avant made a pair of free throws to cap an 18-4 run as the Lady Pirates led the Spartans 27-8 with 9:15 to go before halftime. Hampton shot 84.2 (16-of-19) from the line.

Parham nailed a jumper with 2:44 to go but it was not enough as the Lady Pirates continued to keep a commanding 35-15 lead over NSU.

The Lady Pirates led by as many as 25 points in the first half with a free throw from Ariel Phelps with 55 seconds remaining before halftime to make the score 41-16.

Jazamine Gray scored the last points for the Spartans in the first half with a pair of free throws as NSU continued to trail Hampton, 43-20 to end the first half. The Spartans only shot 56.3 (9-of-16) percent from the free throw line in the game.

Hampton's Olivia Allen drained a 3-pointer with 19:23 remaining in the first half to spark a 17-9 run for the Lady Pirates to make the score 60-29. Allen was 60.0 (6-of-10) from behind the arc on the game.

Gordon answered with a layup at the other end with 7:22 to go as the Spartans continued to trail the Lady Pirates 68-33.

Hampton had its largest lead of the game after a pair of free throws from Kenia Cole to make the score 72-33 with 4:43 left.

From there NSU went on an 8-4 run that included jumpers from Parham and sophomore Ebony Brown.

Hampton outrebounded NSU 43-32 and outscored the Spartans 22-20 in the paint. The Lady Pirates also outscored NSU 9-6 on second chance points.

The Lady Pirates shot 42.4 (25-of-59) percent from the field. Four Hampton players reached double-figures including Allen, who led all scorers with 22 points. Avant posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Bennett also had 15 points while Hamilton was just shy of a double-double as she finished the game with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Hampton held the Spartans to just 28.6 (16-of-56) percent shooting on the afternoon. Aside from Parham, Gordon was the only other NSU player in double-figures as she finished the game with 10 points and four rebounds.

Senior Recca Trice had three assists in the game against Hampton to move into fifth place all-time in the NSU record book for career assists. She now has 429 career assists and 97 assists on the season.

The Spartans travel to Baltimore, Md., on Feb. 2 to take on Coppin State at the Physical Education Complex.