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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- For the third straight season and the fourth time in six years as members of the Capital Athletic Conference, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team is set to play in the conference championship game on Saturday afternoon. The top-seeded Captains (22-5) will open the doors to the Freeman Center and welcome second-seeded Southern Virginia (21-5) for a 2:00 pm tip as the winning team will be crowned conference champs and earn the automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.
For fans unable to attend the game in Newport News, a live video webcast and live stats will be available at the start of the action on CNUsports.com. Links can be found at the top of this page or on the schedule page at CNUsports.com.
This season, the Knights earned the program's first ever win over a nationally-ranked opponent when they captured the win over Christopher Newport in the first matchup of the regular season series. SVU won, 58-54, in their home gym before the Captains split the series with a pivotal 69-47 win during the Knights return trip to the Freeman Center. CNU owns a 16-1 advantage in the all-times series heading into Saturday's bout, which will be the first ever postseason meeting between the two programs.
The Captains earned their third consecutive championship berth with a dominant 72-53 win over #4 Mary Washington in the CAC Semifinals on Thursday night. The Captains led by as many as 30 points in the game as four players finished in double figures. Senior
Jessica Daguilh led all CNU scorers with 15 points while classmate
Zhara Tannor finished with 13 points and 8 steals in the game.
Tannor leads an impressive defense that ranks in the top five nationally in total steals and turnovers forced this season. The senior is averaging 2.8 steals per game while rookie
Sondra Fan, the league's rookie of the year, leads the team with 61 total thefts this year. That mark ranks fifth best among all rookie seasons in CNU history. Offensively, four Captains are averaging double figures this season in
Kiana Kirkland (11.4 ppg), Daguilh (10.7 ppg), Fan (10.4 ppg), and
Jessica Foster (10.0 ppg). The last time CNU finished the season with four players averaging over 10 points per game was 2002-03.
Southern Virginia is enjoying it's finest season since joining Division III while playing under first-year head coach Adam Wardenburg. The Knights are led by sophomore sensation Katie Garrish, who leads the nation in double-doubles (21) and blocked shots (83), while also ranking second in the CAC in scoring with 17.4 points per game. She registered her 21st double-double against #3 Salisbury University in the CAC Semifinals on Thursday with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Leading the charge in the postseason victory was rookie Savanna Christensen with a career-high 22 points. The Knights will be playing in their first ever CAC Championship Game.
The winning team will cut down the nets and celebrate the 2018-19 conference championship and the attached automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Following the women's matchup, the CNU men will host #2 York (Pa.) for the men's championship game at 5:00 pm.
