NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Following final exams to conclude the first semester, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team will continue to test themselves this week with a pair of games at the Captains Clash Tournament in the Freeman Center starting on Wednesday, December 18. The Captains, who held at No. 8 in the WBCA Top 25 and No. 11 in the D3hoops.com national rankings, will face off against Wilmington (OH) at 7:00 p.m. after Shenandoah University takes on Asbury University at 5:00 p.m.

The gates will open at 4:00 p.m. and tickets can be purchased online, over the phone, or in person at the CNU Athletic Ticket Office located in the Freeman Center. Chairback seats are $10 and general admission tickets will be sold for $5. For fans unable to attend in person, live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com. 

The matchup against Wilmington (Ohio) will be the first ever between the two programs. CNU also has never faced Asbury University. The all-time series against Shenandoah favors the Captains, 40-6, with Christopher Newport owning a 13-game win streak against the Hornets. The two have not matched up since the 2013-14 season when the Captains earned an 89-58 win on a neutral floor at Randolph-Macon College. 

The Captains enter the week's event with an 8-1 overall record following a 92-59 win against North Carolina Wesleyan last week. CNU rebounded from just their second regular season loss since 2019 with the win and will look to carry that momentum into the matchup against the Quakers. Wilmington has faced a challenging schedule to start the season and is making the trek from Ohio after earning a 69-62 win in conference play against Mount Union. The Quakers are 3-5 to start the year with wins over Earlham and Berea. Wilmington is led by head coach Sydney Moss, who the Captains last saw when she played for Thomas More University and traveled to Whitman College in the 2014 NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen. 

CNU is led this season by Camille Malagar with 10.4 points per game while knocking down 49.3 percent from the field. The rest of the offense has been a balanced attack, with 12 players averaging between 4.3 and 8.7 points per game. Only one CNU player is averaging over 20 minutes per game in junior guard Hailey Kellogg and no other player has been on the floor for most than 17.3 minutes per game this season. That has led CNU to rank second in the nation in bench scoring, averaging 49.8 points per game so far this season. 

Despite the ball being spread around, the Captains still rank 10th nationally in scoring with 80.7 points per game while the defense has been forcing 33.0 turnovers per game. That mark ranks fourth nationally in Division III. 

Wilmington will counter with a squad led by ZahKyria Walker averaging 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Sierra McCoin is adding 9.5 points per game while leading the Quakers in three-point shooting with 16 triples in the first eight games. McCoin poured in a season-high 24 points for Wilmington against Berea while Walker hauled in a season-high 13 rebounds for the Quakers in the same game. 

Before the home games, Shenandoah and Asbury will face off in the first game of the tournament. Shenandoah is 5-2 overall this season with a narrow six-point loss to No. 16 Catholic and a 10-point setback to perennially ranked DeSales to open the season. Since, the Hornets have strung five wins together and are coming off a 66-53 win against Randolph on Saturday, December 7. Asbury is 2-4 with the wins coming against Schreiner and Centre. 

After Wednesday's action, the consolation game between the two losing teams will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 19. The two winning teams will play in the Captains Clash Championship Game at 3:00 p.m.