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CNU Game Notes
ASHLAND, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team will begin NCAA Tournament action on Friday, March 2 on the campus of Randolph-Macon College, taking on Haverford College in the first round at 5:00 pm. The neutral site contest will be played at Crenshaw Gymnasium as the first game in a doubleheader that will feature the host Yellow Jackets taking on Valley Forge at 7:00 pm.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available of all the action with links found on the top of this page, as well as on the women's basketball schedule at CNUsports.com. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students of all schools with a valid ID.
The Captains are making the program's 19th NCAA Tournament appearance, including the fifth in six seasons under head coach
Bill Broderick. In the previous four trips, CNU has finished in the Final Four, Elite Eight, and Sweet 16 twice. CNU earned an at-large berth into the postseason event after dropping a 61-60 decision to Marymount in the Capital Athletic Conference Championship and will be taking on another squad that earned an at-large berth in Haverford College. The Fords, with a 21-6 overall record, reached the Centennial Championship Game before falling, 44-35, to Gettysburg. It is the second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history for Haverford.
The game will feature two of the nation's top defensive units as Haverford comes in ranked third in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to 47.0 points per game, and eighth in field goal percentage defense, with a stifling .317 opponents shooting percentage. The Captains are a relentless defense that ranks second nationally in steals and third in turnovers forced per games. Something will have to give, as the Fords are among the nation's best at holding onto the basketball, ranked sixth with only 12.7 turnovers per contest.
Both teams rely heavily on the senior class, as CNU's group of seven are a major part of the Captains' rotation. Haverford features only two seniors, but they are the Fords' two leading scorers in Sierra Berkel and Samantha Wetzel. Berkel is leading Haverford with 14.8 points per game while Wetzel is averaging nearly a double-double (12.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) while also adding 84 blocked shots this season.
The Captains lean on first team All-Conference selections
Sam Porter and Makenzie Fancher to lead a high-paced rotation that features only two players averaging over 20 minutes per game. Porter missed eight games with a broken hand, but leads the Captains in scoring with 10.2 points per game and steals with 3.2 thefts per contest. Fancher ranks fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.75) while ranking third in scoring (7.9 ppg) and second in assists (88).
This will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs. Against the teams that currently make up the Centennial Conference, Christopher Newport is 3-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Captains defeated Dickinson in the 2007 first round (52-49), Johns Hopkins in the 2011 second round (81-62), and Muhlenberg in the 2016 second round (65-42).
The winning teams in Friday's first round matchups will advance to Saturday's second round game scheduled for 7:00 pm.
