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ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- A big run at the start of the second half powered Christopher Newport (16-8, 12-5) to a road win in conference play, taking down the host St. Mary's College of Maryland Seahawks (7-16, 7-10) by a final score of 74-55. The Captains kept pace with Marymount University, who defeated first-place Salisbury on Saturday, and remain tied for third place in the CAC standings.

CNU saw four different players finish in double figures, as the Captains spread the ball around throughout the game. In the first half, standout performances from Sam Porter and Jordan Miller led the way, while Devon Byrd and Makenzie Fancher took over in the second half. 

The three-point shooting of the Captains played a key role in the victory Wednesday night, as CNU knocked down a season-high 12 three-pointers on just 21 attempts from deep. Miller led the way with four triples in the game, while seven different CNU players registered at least one made three-pointer. 

In the first half, the two teams battled back-and-forth for the majority of the stanza, until the Captains pulled away for an eight-point lead late. Back-to-back three's from Miller with under a minute and a half to go saw CNU capture a 36-28 lead for their biggest lead to that point. Nina Haller knocked down a pair of free-throws for the Seahawks, cutting the halftime deficit to just six, 36-30, as the teams headed into the locker room. 

Haller scored 12 first-half points for St. Mary's, while Olivia Nowlin and Haley Riebling each added six. The Captains got a stellar performance from Miller in the first half, going 4-8 from the field including a 3-5 run from long range, leading the team with 11 points. Porter stepped up in several spots during the first half and earned a hard-fought 10 points on 3-6 shooting with a 4-5 line at the free-throw line. CNU senior Camry Green was held scoreless, but had six rebounds and a pair of blocks in the first half as her teammates picked up the offensive end. 

The second half started with a 6-0 run by the Seahawks to tie things up at 36, as CNU failed to take control in the early possessions. After the early spurt, though, CNU responded in a huge way by holding St. Mary's to just two points over the next six-plus minutes as they built a big lead. Led by three-point shooting from across the board, and the dominant play down low of Devon Byrd, the Captains scored 24 of the next 28 points to take a 20-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining. Miller, Bailey Dufrene, Makenzie Fancher and Kendra Stone all hit long-range jumpers in the surge, while Byrd added a big three-point play the old-fashioned way down low. 

Haller did everything she could to keep the home team in the contest, but the career-high 24 points for the sophomore center would not be enough as CNU smothered St. Mary's in the second half. Four Captains finished in double figures, led by 14 points from Miller and 13 by Byrd. Porter just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Fancher rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points.

Defensively, CNU had another strong outing with 15 steals, forcing 27 turnovers by the Seahawks, who remain in the CAC Tournament picture with just one game remaining on the schedule. Seeding for the six-team event will be fleshed out completely on Saturday, as only the top two seeds have been decided with Salisbury as the regular season champs and Mary Washington locking up the second seed. 

Christopher Newport will close out the season at Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, February 21, with tip set for 1:00 pm. The result will help determine whether CNU finishes as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the CAC Tournament. Either way, the Captains will play a home game on Tuesday, February 24 in the opening round of the tournament, with game time yet to be determined.