DANVILLE, Va. - Half of the CNU women's basketball team's key trip to western Virginia against the second and third place teams in the USA South is done, with the Captains defeating Averett, 76-58, Saturday afternoon.

After a close first five minutes, a Jessica Moore basket at the 15:42 mark put CNU on top to stay, 8-6, and before the first half ended CNU had built as much as a 13-point lead, 32-19, when Chelsie Schweers made a layup.

At halftime the Captains led, 40-27, and in the second half they never allowed the Cougars to get closer than 11 points, eventually building the margin to as many as 21 points, 68-47, with 5:47 to go on a pair of free throws by Schweers.

Schweers led all scorers with 20 points, and in the process moved into fourth place on CNU's all-time scoring list with 1,565 points. She passed Alice Streetman, who scored 1,562, and now stands 20 points behind number three Tia Moore who compiled 1,585 points.

Jessica Moore added 12 points and ten rebounds for her third double-double in the last four games. Jen Falin added a career-high 10 points, and Kelly Halverson also scored 10.

CNU shot 46 percent from the floor, to 33 for Averett, which is now 7-5 and 4-3 in conference play. The Captains also owned the boards, 48-27, with Schweers collecting seven and Falin and Kimmy Hopkins five each.

Averett was led by Liz Martin with 19 points and Ashley Washington with 17.

The Captains travel to Ferrum Sunday. The Panthers got past Shenandoah Saturday, 68-61, and are now 10-3 overall and 6-2 is the USA south. Game time is 2 p.m.

The box score