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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The top-seeded Christopher Newport women's basketball team held serve on their home court in the Capital Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Tuesday night, leading wire-to-wire to cruise by eighth-seeded St. Mary's (Md.), 86-60. Rookie
Natalie Terwilliger grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and notched her sixth double-double of the season to highlight a strong offensive performance in the first round of the CAC Tournament.
With the win, the Captains improved to 21-5 and advanced to the CAC Semifinals for the fourth straight season and will take on No. 4 seed Mary Washington after the Eagles held off Frostburg State in overtime, 65-54. The Seahawks fell to 7-19 to close the season with the setback to the Captains.
Christopher Newport raced out to a big lead in the first half, leading by as many as 28 in the first 20 minutes to build a big advantage in the conference tournament win. The Captains opened on a 14-3 run and added a 12-2 burst to end the first quarter with a 17-point lead, 26-9. Junior
Kiana Kirkland led the way in the opening stanza with 11 points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line. Rookie
Sondra Fan also added eight points in the dominant first quarter, knocking down an early three-pointer and finishing on the fast-break twice.
Another three-pointer by Fan opened the second quarter and CNU started on another run, scoring ten of the first 12 points to take a 25-point lead, 36-11.
Madison Howdyshell hit a triple in the spurt and Kirkland knocked down two more free-throws. After St. Mary's answered with an 8-2 roll including back-to-back three-pointers, CNU teetered right back with a long three from
Jessica Foster, back-to-back layups by
Marlise Brunson and a nice play from Terwilliger to
Julia Hobbs for an easy two. The 9-0 response got the lead to a then game-high 28 points, 47-19.
CNU carried a 47-25 advantage into the locker room after shooting 40% (16-40) from the field and 42.9% (6-14) from three-point land. CNU was also 9-for-9 from the charity stripe in the first half.
The high-powered offense continued to roll into the third quarter, scoring 27 points on a 52.9% (9-17) effort from the floor. Terwilliger buried a pair of three-pointers while grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots in the third quarter. Foster and Fan also hit three-pointers while senior
Zhara Tannor led the scoring with seven points. CNU took their largest lead of the night in the third quarter when a pair of free-throws by
Phylicia McInnis raised the score to 72-35 for a 37-point advantage.
St. Mary's won the fourth quarter to cut the lead down to 26 by the final buzzer, but the Captains coasted to the postseason win with only one player logging more than 20 minutes of action. That player was Terwilliger, who stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 assists, and a steal in 25 minutes of play. Four Captains finished in double figures as Fan led all scorers with 13 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance. Kirkland added 13 points and Tannor finished just three assists shy of a double-double with 10 points and seven helpers.
The Captains three-point shooting was impressive, knocking down 50% from beyond the arc (12-24) with six different players knocking down at least one. Led by Terwilliger's career-high 15 boards, the Captains dominated the glass, 52-37, with 16 offensive rebounds.
Jessica Daguilh also hauled in nine rebounds for CNU.
St. Mary's (Md.) managed just one player in double figures as Katie Robey finished with 11 points. Gina Seifert had 8 points and 8 rebounds in just 21 minutes for the Seahawks.
CNU will now host the CAC Semifinals against fourth-seeded Mary Washington on Thursday, February 21 at 6:00 pm. The Captains and Eagles split the regular season series with each team winning on their home floor. Live stats and video will be available at CNUsports.com.
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