Winston-Salem, NC?March 12--Sharelle Leslie scored the game-winning basket with 0.8 seconds remaining to give Hampton University a dramatic, 58-56 win over Delaware State in a hard-fought quarterfinal game in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's tournament at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The Lady Pirates (16-15), the Number 6 seed, advance to Friday's semifinal against Florida A&M University, the Number 7 seed, who advanced after an upset win over Coppin State, the Number 2 seed and defending tournament champion.
The game was one of runs. The Lady Hornets (15-15), the Number 3 seed, started the game with a run that gave them a 20-13 early lead. It was then Hampton's turn as it put together a16-0 run at the half to take a 29-20 lead to the locker room.
Hampton continued to build on its first half momentum in the second half, maintaining an seven- to eight-point lead before opening its biggest lead at 34-20 two minutes into the second stanza.
Feeling it slipping away from them, the Lady Hornets scrapped and fought their way back with a 13-2 run that gave them the lead at 52-50 with 1:40 remaining. Alex Stewart capped off the run with a drive to the basket. That is when it got interesting.
Ashlee Finley canned two free throws to tie the game at 52-all with 1:39 remaining and she followed with a put-back that helped the Lady Pirates regain the lead at 54-52.
Delaware State tied the game at 54 on a pair of free throws by Keyhana Wakefield with 20.9 seconds on the clock. Two seconds later, Quanneisha Perry scored following a miss to make it, 56-54 Hampton with 18 ticks on the clock.
Delaware State refused to quit and Wakefiled scored on another strong move to the basket to tie the again at 56-all with eight seconds left.
The Lady Pirates quickly inbounded the ball and got it to Leslie who laid it in with 0.8 seconds remaining. Delaware was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer sounded.
"What you saw today was three things: poise, patience and the will to win," explained Hampton head coach Walter Mebane. "Delaware State gave it all it had and we gave it all we had. We feel very fortunate to win."
The game-winning play perhaps a combination of a play that the Lady Pirates work on it practice and some Divine intervention.
"I wasn't going to stop until the clock read 00.00," said Leslie , who finished with 11 points and four assists. "We work on that in practice, but to be honest, I was just praying. The whole play I was just praying."
The Lady Hornets were considered overachievers all season and relied heavily upon their defense in absence of consistent offense. Delaware State made up for poor shooting (38 percent) with gritty play, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and getting 19 points off second chance opportunities.
"We're not a great offensive team as you can see," said Delaware State head coach Ed Davis. "They fought hard and we fought hard. We were right there. It was just unfortunate what happened in transition on that last play."
Wakefiled led the Lady Hornets with 18 points and 5 assits while Jameka Smith added 11 and 7 rebounds.
Hampton was paced by Perry, who scored 15 and grabbed 9 rebounds and Leslie with 11 points and 4 assists.
Florida A&M, Hampton's opponent, defeated the Lady Pirates, 68-59 in Tallahassee, FL on January 12. Coach Mebane sees it as an intriguing matchup.
"We actually do a lot of the same things," said Coach Mebane. "They are very athletic and they like to get up and down the court in transition. I haven't had a lot of time to think about them, but we will be prepared."
