Box Score in HTML FormatBox Score in PDF FormatDOVER, Del. -- Led by the first career double-double by rookie
Sam Porter, along with the stellar play of freshman
Bailey Dufrene and senior
Camry Green, the Captains won their sixth straight game Sunday afternoon, picking up a 79-53 victory at Wesley College. The CNU women improve to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the CAC, while the Wolverines drop to 5-4 overall and 2-2 against the league.
The Captains opened up a big first-half lead when they blitzed out to an 18-2 lead over the first six minutes of action. CNU was lethal from long range in the opening spurt, getting three-pointers from
Jordan Miller,
Kendra Stone and Dufrene.
Wesley's sophomore sensation Brionna Johnson knocked down a layup with 13:41 remaining in the first, but the Captains kept the pressure up and finished out an impressive 25-4 run to open the game. Holding a commanding 21-point edge just nine minutes into the contest, CNU relinquished control over the next six minutes, as the home team scored 13 of the next 15 points to pull back within ten, 27-17. Tiara White had four points in the run and Victoria Hayes hit a key three-pointer for the Wolverines, but CNU answered with another big roll headed into the locker room.
With just over four and half minutes left in the opening stanza, the Captains got going again, keyed by a three-pointer from
Anitra Thomas. The rookie would score all eight of her first-half points in the final stretch, guiding CNU to a 14-4 burst that gave the Captains a 20-point halftime edge, 41-21. Thomas hit a pair of three-pointers and hit both of her attempts from the free-throw line to get CNU back into a comfortable spot at halftime.
At the break, four different Captains had hit three-pointers and the team was 8-of-12 from the free-throw line. Conversely, Wesley managed just 1-for-9 from long-range and took just two free-throws in the first half. Porter was key in the 41-point first half, scoring 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, while adding a 5-of-6 performance at the charity stripe. Thomas' eight points was next best for the Captains, while Green was already nearing her seventh double-double of the season with six points and seven rebounds in the first half.
Johnson, a double-double machine herself, had six points and five rebounds in the first half, but also turned the ball over five times. She and the rest of the Wolverines had 19 turnovers, leading to 23 CNU points off turnovers in the first half. CNU also turned the ball over 14 times, but Wesley managed just nine points off takeaways.
In the second half, Johnson hit the first shot for Wesley, followed by a three-pointer by Alexus Stroud, but that would be as close as the home team could get, at 41-26. The Captains would build the lead to as many as 27, at 61-34 with 11:25 remaining in the first ten minutes. Then, in the final ten minutes CNU withstood a small Wesley run, followed by another late burst to take a game-high 31-point edge with less than two minutes to go, 79-48. Wesley scored the last five points for the final score, 79-53.
CNU dominated the paint in the second half, led by Porter and Green inside. Both players had a team-high six boards in the second half, helping CNU finish with a +10 advantage in second-half rebounding. For the game, CNU held a 48-35 advantage on the boards and scored 46 of the team's 79 in the paint.
The senior forward finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, picking up her seventh double-double of the year, and Porter finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It's the first time this season that two CNU players have posted double-doubles in the same game. Porter added four steals and Green chipped in three blocks.
Dufrene led CNU in the scoring column in the second half, scoring nine points. She finished with a season-high tying 15 points while adding seven rebounds and three steals.As a team, the Captains had 19 steals, led by four apiece from Porter and
Jordan Miller. Miller also chipped in eight points, five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore point guard
Lauren Cox finished with a game-high six assists.
Johnson finished out her double-double, leading the Wolverines with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Stroud was the only other Wesley player in double figures, scoring 11 points with five rebounds.
The Captains will finish out a three-game conference road trip this Wednesday, December 17 as they travel to nationally-ranked Salisbury University for the final game before the winter break. Tip is set for 3:00 pm at the Maggs Physical Activities Center in Maryland. The Sea Gulls are 7-0 to start the season and are ranked as high as No. 21 in the nation.