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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --  For the second straight game, Christopher Newport used a strong defensive performance to pull away from a Capital Athletic Conference opponent, winning 71-52 over Wesley Wednesday night.  The Captains (10-2, 3-1) scored 40 points off of turnovers as they dropped the Wolverines to 2-8 overall, 0-4 in the conference. 

After forcing 35 turnovers and scoring 36 points off of those giveaways against Frostburg State, the Captains backed up that performance with another 35 turnovers and 40 points in tonight's game. CNU led wire-to-wire, and by as many as 32 points in the game, led by senior Nicole Mitchell with 20.

Christopher Newport leaned on Mitchell in the first half, as the Falls Church, Va. native scored on five of her seven attempts from the field to finish the opening stanza with 10 points. She added four rebounds while classmate Tia Perry had nine points and five boards in the first twenty minutes. 

Wesley's rookie sensation Brionna Johnson had 11 points in the first half, but was the only Wolverine to make more than two baskets in the frame as CNU pulled away with a 14-point edge at intermission, 36-22.

The Captains raced out of the locker room to build a huge lead in the first ten minutes of the second half. After Wesley hung on for the first three and a half minutes, a blistering 19-4 run over the next seven and a half gave CNU their largest lead of the night with 9:17 remaining, 62-30. Mitchell scored seven straight points for the Captains and sophomore Jordan Miller capped the run with a runner in the lane to put CNU up by 32 points.

Wesley would go on a run of their own over the last nine minutes of the game to drop the final to a 19-point win for the Captains. Johnson led the Wolverines, just missing a double-double when she finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Haley Thomas and Roniece Williams hit a pair of threes and finished with ten points each. Williams also was just shy of a double-double, with nine boards, and added a game-high six assists.

For the Captains, Mitchell's 20 points came on an efficient 9-of-12 from the field. She helped lead a defensive effort that saw the Captains pick up 21 steals, with four players picking off four passes. Mitchell, Miller and Camry Green each had four steals, while Tia Perry added three. Perry also finished in double figures with 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out a team-high five assists. Rookie Allison Rowe grabbed a team-high seven boards to go with seven points off the bench.

In the game, CNU finished 40.6% from the field (28-69) and added an 84.6% night at the free-throw line (11-13). Wesley actually shot the ball well, at 43.6% (17-39) but finished with 30 fewer field goal attempts than the Captains. 

CNU is headed on the road for their next two CAC contests, beginning with a trip to Penn State Harrisburg this Saturday. Tip is set for 1:00 pm against the conference foe, who has started the year 5-7 with a 1-3 mark in league play.