Game Notes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Carrying a 10-game win streak into the Music City Classic, the third-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team will face a pair of opponents in Nashville this week. The Captains (10-0) will first square off against Grove City College (5-4) on Tuesday, December 19 at 11:00 a.m. before taking on 18th-ranked Whitman College (8-1) on Wednesday, December 20, also at 11:00 a.m.

In addition to the Captains and Whitman, the pre-Christmas Division III tournament includes No. 7 Wartburg College taking on the Blues on Tuesday. Other teams in attendance include DePauw University, Roanoke College, North Park University, and Southern Virginia University among others. 

Live stats will be available for both games from Welch College in Gallatin, Tenn. Links for the coverage will be included on the women's basketball schedule at CNUsports.com. 

Christopher Newport enters the week's event following a pair of road victories against North Carolina Wesleyan and Stevenson last week. The victories improved the Captains to 10-0 on the season for the third straight year. It will be the first ever matchup against Grove City College; the Wolverines are based out of Pennsylvania. CNU and Whitman will be facing off for just the second time all-time after meeting in the 2014 NCAA Tournament Round of 16 in Walla Walla, Washington. The Blues won that bout, 87-70, in head coach Bill Broderick's second season with the Captains. 

The 2023-24 season has been as much about roster depth as any in the 11 seasons under Broderick as the Captains rank second in the nation in bench scoring averaging 40.4 points per game from the reserves. Among the players coming off the bench that are leading the way this season are rookie Caitlin Crump, shooting 47.2 percent from the field, and sophomore Nicole Timko, scoring over five points per game in just over ten minutes of game time per contest.

In the form of veterans Katy Rader and Hannah Kaloi, the rotation earned a boost over the last several games as both players have returned from lengthy layoffs due to injury. Kaloi has started three straight games and is pouring in 7.3 points per game while adding 4.3 rebounds per contest; Rader saw her first action since the Sweet 16 of last year's postseason tournament on Saturday when she debuted against Stevenson and scored eight points in 12 minutes of play. 

Grove City is coming off a 72-56 win at Bethany and have won four of the last six games heading into the trip to Nashville. Three Wolverines are averaging double figures this season led by Kat Goetz with 11.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per contest. Jaden Davinsizer and Mara Polczynski are dangerous shooters that are each averaging around 11 points per game while starting all nine games this season. 

Whitman is already in Tennessee after traveling this weekend to face Sewanee and the Blues captured an 88-57 win to improve to 8-1 on the season. The game prior, Whitman narrowly escaped a 54-53 win over Colorado College on December 9. The perennial power has been led this season by exceptional ball control wth only 13.6 turnovers per game to rank in the top-20 nationally. As a team, the Blues also rank 14th in the country in assists per game and are in the top-25 in rebounding margin. The starting five has been consistent in all nine games so far this season as the experienced group is led by junior Carly Martin, averaging 17.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, and senior forward Korin Baker is adding 14.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. 

Following the trip to Tennessee, the Captains will return home for the holidays before embarking on another road trip to Hoboken, New Jersey for a pair at the Stevens Institute of Technology Classic on December 29-30.