NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing at home for just the second time in the first nine games this season, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team entertained the Freeman Center fans with a 92-59 win against North Carolina Wesleyan (4-4) on Monday night. The Captains improved to 8-1, bouncing back after the team's second regular season loss since 2019, on the same night they moved to No. 11 in the D3hoops.com National Rankings. 

Three Christopher Newport players finished in double figures on another well-balanced scoring night as all but one Captain found their way into the scoring column. Sophomore Elizabeth Creed scored a team-high 13 points while Camille Malagar added 11 and rookie Katerina Dakos scored 10. The lone player who did not record a point for CNU was junior Hailey Kellogg and the junior point guard contributed to plenty of the offense with a career-high seven assists. 

The matchup featured a back-and-forth opening quarter that saw the teams deadlocked at 17-all heading into the second. Bishops graduate guard Nadia Simmons recorded her 1,000th career point in the opening quarter while leading the way for the visitors, but the CNU defense clamped down in the second quarter. With the score knotted at 27 points apiece at the 6:58 mark, the Captains did not allow another point the remainder of the first half. A brilliant 24-0 run in the final seven minutes helped the home team distance themselves and head into the locker room up 51-27. 

Rookie Emma O'Connor keyed the run with a tough finish through a pair of Battling Bishops defenders and the CNU defense took over from there. Forcing 12 turnovers in the final six minutes, the Captains had six steals including two by Malagar and a pair from sophomore Caitlin Crump. CNU used the transition game to their advantage, finishing on the fast break off steals on three out of four possessions in the second quarter, including a three-pointer by Mia Wilson with 3:09 remaining to make it 39-27. 

Elizabeth Creed and Madison McKenzie added layups to make it 18 and free-throws by Hannah Orloff built the lead to 20. In the final minute of the second stanza, Madison McKenzie lobbed a perfectly-placed pass into the hands of Sarah Pritz on the run for a tough finish and Orloff stayed perfect at the line with two more to close out the 24-0 run at the end of the half up 24-23. 

In the second half, the Captains maintained the big lead throughout the third quarter and added to it in the fourth. CNU led by as many as 34 late in the game and finished out the 33-point win, 92-39, having never trailed in the contest. 

As has been the story all season long so far for the Captains, the team's balance led the way. After the aforementioned leading scorers, Orloff finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, Crump added nine points, and three more Captains added six points (McKenna Snively, McKenzie, and O'Connor). Aliyah Elliott scored her first collegiate bucket while Jessica Dornak added a 2-for-3 effort with four points, an assist, and one rebound. 

Kellogg highlighted an incredible night sharing the basketball as CNU had 31 assists on 37 made baskets. Her team-high seven dimes headlined a grouping that included four from Creed, Malagar, and Wilson, while Crump added three. It marks the most in a game since dishing 35 at Pratt on January 28, 2023 and is tied for the ninth most in a single game in program history. 

As a team, CNU shot 46.3 percent (37-80) from the field including knocking down six three-pointers. Snively had a pair while four other CNU players drained one shot from beyond the arc. The defense forced 34 turnovers, marking the seventh time this season that the opposing team has had as many giveaways. 

Christopher Newport will return to action at the Captains Clash on December 18-19 in the Freeman Center. Shenandoah and Asbury will play first on Wednesday, December 18 at 5:00 p.m. before the Captains play host to Wilmington College (Ohio) at 7:00 p.m. The consolation and championship games will be played on Thursday, December 19 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.