HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Taking on the top-ranked Jumbos from Tufts University in a neutral site battle, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team is back in action on Saturday night playing in the Stevens Institute of Technology Women's Basketball Holiday Classic. Christopher Newport (8-3) will face the No. 1 ranked Jumbos (8-0) at 7:00 pm Saturday night before facing the host Ducks on Sunday at 1:00 pm. 

Live stats and video will be available for both games with links at CNUsports.com. The other team in the classic format is TCNJ, who will face Stevens at 5:00 pm on Saturday before taking on Tufts at 3:00 pm on Sunday. 

Christopher Newport has won four straight games coming into the non-conference tournament weekend with the offense firing three 95+ point performances in that run. The Captains captured a 98-56 win on the road against Virginia Wesleyan in their last outing on December 15 and has been off for nearly two weeks before taking on the top-ranked Tufts program Saturday night. 

The meeting in Hoboken, New Jersey will be the first matchup against Tufts University, who has been a perennial top-five program nationally over the last several years. The Jumbos were also in the Final Four when the Captains appeared in the national semifinals against Amherst in 2017. Last season, Tufts also appeared in the same sectional with Christopher Newport as both the Captains and Jumbos were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament by Scranton in the second weekend. It will also be the first meeting between Christopher Newport and Stevens when the team takes on the hosts Sunday afternoon. 

Tufts is coming into Saturday evening's battle with a perfect 8-0 start to the season and is road tested through the first two months. The Jumbos has gone 5-0 in five straight games away from home heading into the matchup with the Captains. Under first-year head coach Jill Pace, Tufts' scoring defense ranks eighth nationally in scoring defense while holding opponents to just 48.0 points per game. Senior Erica DeCandido leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game with five players averaging 9.5 points per game or more. Senior Cailin Harrington has hit all 25 of her free-throw attempts this year to lead the nation while pacing a team that ranks 22nd nationally from the charity stripe. 

Stevens enters the weekend with a 2-5 overall record and riding a three-game slide. Jess Broad leads the team with 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while Christina Li is adding 10.6 points per contest. TCNJ rounds out the field with a 6-3 overall record with two straight wins coming into the weekend. Three Lions are averaging double figures with Shannon Devitt scoring 17.3 points per game to lead the way. Jen Byrne (15.1 ppg) and Rachel Gazzola (13.1 ppg) are each averaging over 30 minutes per game this season. 

Christopher Newport continues to feature one of the nation's top offenses, ranking eighth in scoring offense with 83.1 points per game this season. The high-powered attack is buoyed by strong rebounding, hauling in 48.9 rebounds per game to rank 14th nationally. The Captains have been especially impressive on the offensive glass, ranking fourth in the country with over 22 per game. 

Individually, four Captains are scoring in double figures this season with Natalie Terwilliger holding the team lead at 12.2 points per game. Sondra Fan (11.5), Kiana Kirkland (10.9), and Anaya Simmons (10.5) round out the group of top scorers for the Captains. Simmons and Terwilliger have each hauled in 6.1 rebounds per game to lead the Captains' team rebounding efforts. 

Following the weekend's tournament in New Jersey, the Captains will return to action at the St. Mary's (Md.) Classic on January 3-4 against Susquehanna and Concordia (Chicago).