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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- In one of the most dominating halves of the season, the 19th-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team surged out to a 42-8 halftime lead against 23rd-ranked Mary Washington (18-4, 12-3), but the Eagles responded in the second half, making the Captains bid at a 15th straight win a far more arduous task than anticipated. A pivotal three-pointer from Anitra Thomas with just over two minutes remaining would be the key moment as CNU held off their nationally-ranked conference rivals, 59-53.

Using the first-half cushion, head coach Bill Broderick and the Captains picked up their 20th win of the season, marking the third time in four seasons under Broderick that CNU reached that plateau. The win also extended the program's third longest win streak, just one shy of a 16-game roll in 2012-13. Most importantly, though, the win broke a tie for second place in the CAC standings as Christopher Newport pulled one game ahead of the Eagles with three games left to play. League-leading kept pace with a road win at Penn State Harrisburg and remain one game up on the Captains. 

The game, featuring two vastly different halves for both teams, started off with CNU on the right side of a dominant performance. One of the nation's stingiest defenses held Mary Washington without a made field goal in the second quarter, and allowed just two points from the free-throw line. Along the way, the CNU offense shot 41.2% (14-34) in the first half, building a 34-point edge at the break. Sophomore Sam Porter was already just one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, adding a block, two assists and two steals as she led the way for CNU's impressive effort. Devon Byrd added nine first-half points on 3-of-5 shooting and Bailey Dufrene triggered part of the run with eight points and three rebounds. 

Defensively, CNU held Mary Washington to just 3-of-20 shooting in the first half for a 15% clip. In the second quarter, the CNU defense forced 10 turnovers and an 0-for-7 shooting effort by the Eagles, while scoring 12 points off of turnovers. 

As the teams emerged from the locker room, the Captains allowed five quick points, but responded with a three-pointer from Makenzie Fancher to extend the lead back to 45-13. From there, however, the visitors keyed an 11-0 run before Fancher buried two more triples back-to-back to temporarily stop the bleeding again, getting CNU back up to 28, 52-24, with 1:10 remaining in the third quarter. CNU would fall silent offensively and Mary Washington started to climb back into the game. Over an eight-minute stretch of game time, the Eagles stymied CNU on offense and ripped off a 23-0 run to pull back within five points with 2:39 showing ont he clock, 52-47. 

Still without a point in the fourth quarter, the Captains came away with a huge bucket on the very next trip down the floor. Anitra Thomas brought the ball up the floor, traded passes with Byrd and buried a long three from the right wing to extend the lead to eight with 2:27 showing on the clock. Both defenses traded big sequences over the next minute of game-time before Bailey Dufrene was fouled and sent to the line for two shots. She converted 1-of-2 and got the lead back to six. Megan Green hit two free-throws for the Eagles and after a empty trip by the Captains, hit one more to cut the lead down to three for the first time since it was 9-6. 

With under a minute to play, however, Mary Washington fouled Zhara Tannor, Jalynn Ponzo and Dufrene over the next 30 seconds without answering on the offensive end. CNU converted three from the charity stripe and pulled out a 59-53 victory in the crucial conference matchup. 

Porter finished with her third straight double-double, grabbing 13 rebounds to go with 12 points. She added three assists, three steals and one block. Fancher's hot streak from beyond the arc saw her finish 5-of-6 from deep with 15 points and two assists, while Dufrene added 11 points and seven rebounds. 

Mary Washington was led by Comden's 19 points and nine rebounds, while Elizabeth Dofflemyer and Megan Gren added 16 points and 10 points, respectively. 

Christopher Newport will next face fourth-place York College (Pa.) (17-5, 11-4) on Saturday, February 13 at 1:00 pm. It is the final road trip of the regular season for the Captains and will prove a pivotal matchup for postseason seeding as the top four seeds continue to vie for the coveted first-round bye in the CAC Tournament. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available with links found at CNUsports.com.