NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- First team All-Conference guard
Sondra Fan logged her fourth 20-point performance of the season headlining a Capital Athletic Conference semifinal victory over #4-seeded Salisbury University (12-15) for the 22nd-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team, 76-63. The Captains advance to the team's fourth consecutive CAC Championship Game and will host #3-seeded York (Pa.) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 29.
Fan was the game-high scorer with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting as she led three Captains in double figures. The Captains got 15 points from
Bailey Hodges and 13 out of
Natalie Terwilliger as the team improved to 22-4 on the season.
For the third time this season, Salisbury gave Christopher Newport all it could handle for the majority of the game, but the Captains outlasted the conference rival for a double-digit victory. It was the 14th straight win overall and the 20th consecutive home victory for Christopher Newport. The home win streak is the third such run of at least 20 straight wins at home since the Freeman Center opened in 2000-01.
After a hotly contested first half, the Captains led by just six, 39-33, at halftime. The teams matched eachother in the third quarter and the Sea Gulls managed to tie the game twice, but Christopher Newport never allowed the visitors to pull ahead in the second half and pulled away late for a 13-point win.
Salisbury managed to tie the game at 48 with 3:55 left in the third quarter but a nice finish from
Julia Ng gave the Captains the lead back. Fan found Ng for a tough leaning runner that scooted up and over the rim on the left side. After free-throws from the Sea Gulls tied the game again, it was a
Bailey Hodges free-throw and a pair of clutch plays by
Anaya Simmons that swung the momentum heavily back in favor of the home team. Simmons grabbed at halfcourt and then raced to the basket for a tough finish through contact for the traditional three-point play, giving the Captains a 55-51 edge with less than a minute to play in the quarter. Then, on the final possession of the third, a broken play landed at the hands of Simmons where she managed a perfect shuffle pass to
Julia Hobbs who finished at the buzzer.
With the 6-0 burst at the end of the quarter giving the Captains a 57-51 lead headed into the fourth, the final frame became more about hitting free throws than anything else. A three-pointer by
Phylicia McInnis was followed by a 9-of-10 shooting performance by the Captains from the charity stripe. Ng and Terwilliger each had layups as they kept Salisbury at arm's length, and Fan added a dagger of a three while on the move from the top of the key with less than a minute to play to ice the victory.
In the first half, neither team led by more than eight points as the two teams teetered back and forth. Turnovers plagued both sides in the low-scoring first half but sharp shooting by the Captains, particularly in the first quarter, built the early advantage. In the first, Christopher Newport knocked down seven of their ten attempts from the field including a 3-for-4 effort from beyond the arc.
Christopher Newport was limited to a season-low 47 attempts from the field, but managed to convert at one of the highest rates of the year knocking down 46.8% from the field including a 6-for-18 effort from three-point land. Fan led the distance shooting by hitting three while Terwilliger, McInnis, and Hodges each added one.
Terwilliger led the rebounding column for Christopher Newport with nine, falling just shy of a double-double with 13 points and 9 boards. Ng added a 9 points, 6 rebound effort and Hobbs had 7 points, 5 rebounds as well. The front court combined to go 13-for-22 from the field with 35 points combined.
The stage is now set for the Captains to face their fourth different opponent in the last four CAC Championships; Christopher Newport defeated Mary Washington in 2017, fell to Marymount in 2018, and dropped Southern Virginia in 2019. York will be appearing in the conference final for the first time since defeating the Captains in the 2013-14 version of the postseason event and is making just the sixth conference championship appearance in program history. Game time for Saturday's championship game is set for 4:30 p.m. as the second half of a CAC Championship Doubleheader against York (Pa.) as the men's team's will also play for the title in the Freeman Center starting at 2:00 p.m.
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