FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- On Saturday, both of the Christopher Newport basketball teams will be putting win streaks on the line against a tough conference opponent, Methodist University. The 25th-ranked women's squad pulled off a win over Greensboro College on Friday night and will carry an unbeaten 10-0, 3-0 record into Saturday's 2:00 pm tip. Immediately following, the 16th-ranked men's team is looking to run their surge to five after opening the season 9-1, 2-0.
Head coach DeeDee Jarman has her team on a win streak of their own, as the Monarchs women's basketball team has run off seven straight wins. Methodist opened the year 0-2, but have not lost since the opening weekend, including a 63-56 win at home on Friday against N.C. Wesleyan. The Methodist men enter Saturday's contest 3-7 overall, with a 0-1 mark against conference foes. The Monarchs were picked to finish sixth in the USA South in the preseason coaches' poll.
The doubleheader is set for 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm tip-offs at the March F. Riddle Center in Fayetteville. It will be the final time CNU travels to Methodist for a conference game, as the Captains will join the Capital Athletic Conference next fall. Both games will be available in a live video webcast at CNUsports.com/LIVE, and the men's game will be broadcast live on Xtra 99.1 FM, the CNU/Pepsi Radio Network.
The CNU women got a double-double from
Camry Green, her sixth of the season, to lead the Captains past Greensboro on Friday night with 10 points and 15 rebounds. On the season, Green is averaging a double-double with 10.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, while junior
Tia Perry is pouring in a team-high 15.2 points per game, adding over three steals per contest.
Methodist is an extremely veteran group, led by a trio of senior players in Christina Schrader, Brianna Robinson and TT Taylor. All three are averaging in double figures, led by Schrader's 12.3 points per game, while Robinson is the team leader on the glass, with 7.8 rebounds per, and Taylor is adding 10.2 points per contest. The Monarchs are strong defensively, holding opponents to just 56.2 points per game, while grabbing 100 steals in the first nine games.
On the men's side, head coach
John Krikorian's squad is led by three players:
Tra Benefield,
Mike Cherry and
Nik Biberaj. After averaging 28.5 points in the last two games, Benefield has taken over the team lead in scoring with 19.9 points per game, while also leading CNU in rebounding with 8.3 boards per. Cherry has been the team's leading scorer in five of the first ten games and is chipping in 18.2 points with a team-high 25 three-pointers. Biberaj has been a steady presence in the paint, and has added 13.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The Monarchs were being led by junior guard James Whitehead (17.9 ppg) before the holiday break, but has not played in the last three games for MU. Big man Bryan Hockaday is also in double figures for Methodist, averaging 10.1 points per game, while also leading the squad in rebounding, with 8.6 grabs off the glass.
