WBCA Top 25  ||  D3hoops.com National Rankings

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The national rankings have been released for Week 3, through games on December 11, and the Christopher Newport women's basketball team held it's position in both the WBCA Top 25 and the D3hoops.com National Rankings. The Captains, off to a 9-0 start in 2022-23, are picking up one first-place vote and ranked No. 2 in the nation according to the coaches' poll while garnering 531 points and sticking at No. 5 in the media poll. 

Christopher Newport has been ranked No. 5 in all three D3hoops.com Top 25 releases during the regular season, sitting behind No. 1 Hope (9-0), No. 2 New York University (8-0), No. 3 Transylvania (7-0), and No. 4 Trinity (Texas) (9-0). Hope is the only team picked ahead of the Captains in the WBCA Top 25. 

The Captains improved to 9-0 with a 110-57 win over North Carolina Wesleyan on Sunday, December 11 in their only action last week. It was the fifth win of 50 points or more this season as Christopher Newport continues to lead the nation in scoring margin, averaging +46.7 per game this year. CNU features the third-ranked scoring offense, pouring in 91.9 points per game, and the seventh-ranked scoring defense, allowing only 45.2 points per game. 

Leading the way has been the Captains' usual suffocating defense, forcing 35.3 turnovers per game to rank fourth in the nation. Christopher Newport leads the country in turnover margin and ranks third in steals per game with over 20 per contest. While the defense has been tormenting, the offense has been firing on all cylinders as well, ranking second nationally in team field-goal percentage with a 47.7 percent mark as a unit. 

Individually, senior forward Anaya Simmons leads the team with 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. She is the league leader in offensive rebounds per game and continues an impressive career shooting percentage at over 60 percent through two-plus seasons as a Captain. Not far behind in the scoring column is senior guard Sondra Fan, pouring in 12.4 points per game while ranking in the top-30 nationally in three-point field goal percentage. 

Christopher Newport is off until Sunday, December 18 when they will take on Colorado College at 6:00 p.m. in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Captains will also face SUNY Cortland at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, December 19 as part of the Puerto Rico Clasico Tournament.