Tough draw for Lady Pirates

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - The Hampton University Lady Pirates have won 19 straight games and are looking to extend the streak Sunday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The Lady Pirates got a No. 15 seed in the tournament this season, despite only losing five games all season and beating current No. 6 tournament seed LSU in the regular season. 

"The thing is, you wonder what you have to do to gain that respect. You know, I think we had a great season," Head Coach David Six said. "Supposedly you're supposed to be hot going into the tournament and we have a 19-game winning streak. Apparently that wasn't taken into consideration. We'll have to deal with it. We are not going to cry about it. We are going to go down there and play hard."

If the Lady Pirates beat Duke, that would give Coach Six his 100th career win.

Since he has taken over as head coach, the Lady Pirates have won four straight MEAC championships and a big reason why is their hard-nosed defensive play. 

They're ranked first in the country in scoring defense, holding teams to on average 47.2 points per game,  which makes them a tough team for any opponent.

MEAC Player of the Year Kieara Avant likes the idea of getting that 100th win.

"That would be awesome because we both walked in the door together and both me and him getting that 100th win would be amazing," Avant said.

Senior Olivia Allen transferred from Bradley University after her sophomore year and would like nothing more then to beat Duke.

"We are really athletic," Allen said. "I don't think they can guard, they can probably guard one person, but that's about it. We can all shoot, we can all drive, rebound, we can do everything. They have to watch out for all of us, not just one person."

Tipoff is set for noon Sunday and you can watch it live on ESPN-U.