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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Powered by a hot shooting performance in the first half, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team dropped Lynchburg College (3-2) at home Sunday afternoon, 71-56. The Captains (4-2) were led by rookie Sam Porter, with 18 points, and senior Camry Green, posting her record sixth straight double-double to start the year. 

CNU trailed only twice against the preseason favorites to win the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, when the Hornets took a 2-0 lead on the opening possession and then again four minutes into the game when Shannon Allan dropped in her second basket for a 6-4 lead. From that point, the Hornets simply could not keep up with the torrid shooting of the CNU offense. 

In the first half, CNU knocked down eight of its first 12 shots, including a pair of three-pointers from rookie Makeda Wright. The second trey from the freshman came with 8:20 left in the first half and gave CNU an 11-point lead, capping a 10-0 run that lasted just over two minutes on the clock. 

A pair of Lynchburg free-throws by Sarah Coronel would slow the roll for a moment, but Green knocked down a layup off a pretty assist from Kendra Stone, and then Stone buried a long-range jumper to make it a 15-2 run in favor of the Captains. CNU built a 29-15 lead and continued to push in the first half; and while the shooting percentage wouldn't stay at 75%, the first 20 minutes would still prove a smoking performance for the Captains. 

CNU finished the opening stanza with 12-of-23 shots made, for a 52.2% shooting effort. A pair of free-throws by Devon Byrd with 0.3 seconds remaining in the half gave the Captains an 18-point advantage headed into the intermission, 45-27. The CNU bench was already the story, with 31 of the Captains first-half points, led by 15 from Porter, who was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. 

Green was well on her way to another double-double, pouring in 11 points and grabbing six rebounds as the Captains built a big lead at halftime. Meanwhile, the CNU defense was doing a solid job holding down the Lynchburg attack, allowing just eight made field goals in the first half. The Hornets shot 27.6% from the field in the first, and only two players registered made buckets. Allan had 13 points, while Sammi Goldsmith added 10. 

In the second half, Lynchburg clawed back to within nine points, 55-46, with 8:50 remaining in the game, but could not get any closer. Chaney Forbush had a stellar second-half on the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds to go with nine points after halftime, but the CNU defense forced 15 second-half turnovers to limit the number of chances Lynchburg had at a comeback.

Foul trouble saddled Green with just nine minutes played in the second half and the senior nearly missed out on her sixth consecutive double-double. It would come down to the final play, as the 6-2 forward grabbed the last rebound of the contest to finish with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Her personal best improves to six straight games, last accomplished by CNU's Colandra Rollins in 2008. 

Allan led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds and blocking three shots. Forbush had a double-double for the Hornets, with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while Goldsmith added 15 points despite 11 turnovers. 

Porter added three points after halftime to finish with a team-high 18 points, leading a tremendous bench performance that outscored Lynchburg's reserves, 43-5. Bailey Dufrene added nine points, six rebounds off the bench; Devon Byrd had seven points and eight rebounds; Makenzie Fancher served up four assists and two steals; and Wright chipped in seven points. 

CNU enters conference play this week, as they take on Southern Virginia University Wednesday night at 5:30 pm in the Capital Athletic Conference opener.