Hamilton leads Hampton to rout of Coppin State

Hampton 76, Coppin State 50

Welcome back, Nicole Hamilton.

Hampton's sophomore guard had a turn-back-the-clock performance Saturday as she lit up Coppin State for 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. It was the type of game Hamilton turned in routinely upon her debut last season with the Lady Pirates. During a six-game stretch last January, Hamilton averaged 18.3 a game and earned two MEAC Rookie of the Week awards. Then she cooled off, considerably. Hamilton scored just 27 points in 13 games in which she appeared the rest of the season. And heading into Saturday's game, she'd scored just 27 points in 10 games in 2011-12. In other words, over a 23-game span - nearly a full season's worth of games - Hamilton averaged 2.3 points per contest.

Until Saturday.

Maybe she just likes playing at Coppin State. A year ago, she scored 22 points - and also nailed 5 3-pointers - in the same building en route to her first MEAC Rookie of the Week honor.

Melanie Warner complemented Hamilton's effort with 17 points, Choicetta McMillian added 15 points and 7 rebounds and Alyssa Bennett continued to excel with 14 points and 11 boards for the Lady Pirates (12-3, 4-0 MEAC), who used 12-of-18 shooting from 3-point range to shake off a slow start to cruise to their 17th straight win over MEAC competition.