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FERRUM, Va. -- In the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship, the 20th-ranked Christopher Newport Captains (23-5) earned their fourth straight opening round victory, cruising past the Eastern Mennonite Royals (22-6), 78-63. The Captains won their 12th game of the season in wire-to-wire fashion, never trailing against EMU, while shooting 52.5% from the field. 

The Captains will now advance to the NCAA Tournament Second Round, where they will take on either the hosts from Ferrum College, or Capital University, who play in Friday's nightcap at 7:00 pm. 

Christopher Newport was led by front court starters Camry Green and Nicole Mitchell, as each poured in 20-point games. Green notched her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, while Mitchell had a stellar second half to finish with 20 points, five assists and three rebounds. 

A surprise off the bench for head coach Bill Broderick was the return of senior Tia Perry. The Captains' leading scorer was injured with three games remaining in the regular season and Friday night's contest was her first game back in the lineup. She finished with seven points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of play. 

The Captains raced out to a big lead early in the contest, scoring the game's first 11 points. Green was terrific in the run, scoring seven points, including a three-point play, grabbing four rebounds and adding a blocked shot. A 7-0 run back the other way got the Royals back within four points, at 11-7, but that would be as close as it got the rest of the game.

The Captains' pressure defense forced nine first half turnovers and turned them into 15 points. Senior Chantal Thomas and sophomore Brandi Holland each grabbed a pair of steals for CNU. 

Holland hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half, and was second on the team in scoring with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. One of those treys came at the halftime buzzer, giving CNU a 43-31 lead at the break. She added a pair of assists as well, as CNU dished 11 dimes as a team, on 18 made baskets. The Captains shot 60% from the floor (18-30), including 57.1% from long range (4-7). Green led the CNU offense in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.

The post presence was strong on both sides of the floor as reserve Shakeerah Sykes led all scorers with 13 points in the opening stanza. She added five rebounds and missed just two attempts from the floor, going 6-for-8 for Eastern Mennonite. Only one other Royal converted more than one basket, however, as Jess Rheinheimer was 2-for-5 for five points.

After the intermission, the Captains entertained a crowd of 500+ fans with another early roll to add to their big lead. Over the first nine minutes of the half, CNU increased the lead to a game-high 26 points, 64-38, with 11:02 remaining. The final bucket in the 21-7 spurt to open the half was a three-pointer from freshman Lauren Cox. Green and Mitchell each had six points in the run, as Mitchell started to heat up from the field. 

After scoring just six points in the first half, Mitchell added 14 in the second half to finish with her sixth 20-point game of the season. She also added a game-high five assists, and grabbed three rebounds.

Eastern Mennonite attempted a rally in the final ten minutes, but the lead was too large to overcome as CNU held onto the 25-point lead until there was less than four minutes remaining. The Royals scored the last ten points of the game for the final tally, 78-63. 

CNU narrowly missed a program-record for field goal percentage in an NCAA Tournament game, hitting 52.5% of its shots (31-59). The record, 53.8%, was set last season in the NCAA Sweet 16 against Montclair State. The Captains improve to 22-0 this season when leading or tied at the half. 

Sykes finished with a game-high 23 points, on 11-16 shooting, and senior point guard Keyla Baltimore added 10 points for the only other double-figure scoring output for Eastern Mennonite. Leading scorer Bianca Ygarza was held to nine points and one rebound. 

Green's eighth double-double of the season came in just her 18th game back after an injury sidelined her for the first half of the year. She now has 26 career double-doubles in three years with the Captains. Mitchell's 20-point effort gives her 1,231 for her career, closing in on 12th all-time at CNU. 

Christopher Newport will take on the winner of Capital University and Ferrum College in Saturday night's second round. The game is set to tip at 7:00 pm with live video and live stats available at CNUsports.com. 

Postgame Press Conference with Head Coach Bill Broderick