NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Despite a slow start that saw the Captains score just five points in the opening quarter, a second-quarter spark turned things around and the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team rolled to a 73-49 win over Mary Washington (7-13) on Saturday afternoon. Playing in front of a raucous crowd of over 700 in the Freeman Center, CNU outscored the Eagles, 31-13, in the second quarter to open up a big halftime lead and never looked back. 

With the victory, Christopher Newport improved to 19-1 on the season while securing the 12th straight win overall. It also marked the tenth straight home win as the Captains logged the ninth double-digit home winning streak since the Freeman Center opened in 2000-01. 

CNU also extended its active winning streak against Mary Washington to 14 straight games dating back to the 2018-19 season. CNU is now 13-3 at home against the Eagles since head coach Bill Broderick took over the program in 2012-13. 

While the final score points to a blowout victory, the game was anything but in the early going as Christopher Newport struggled through the first quarter. The Captains managed just two made field goals and did not score over the final 5:59 of the opening stanza. Mary Washington, however, was equally as challenged by the CNU defense and was able to only build a five-point lead, 10-5, after the first ten minutes. The Captains forced ten turnovers in the first quarter and snagged four steals to keep things close. 

Elizabeth Barry connected on a three-pointer to start the second quarter for Mary Washington and the Eagles took a 13-5 advantage. Minutes later, Riley Weaver added a layup to take a 15-10 lead, but from there, it was all CNU. A short jumper by Camille Malagar started the run and a nice kickout pass by Sydney Sherman found Gabbi San Diego for a three on the very next possession. Her triple tied the game at 15 and CNU would never trail again. Emma O'Connor scored four of the next six with Malagar adding another short runner. Sherman blocked a shot on the defensive end and McKenna Snively got to the line for two as Christopher Newport scored 13 straight points to take a 23-15 lead. 

After a pair of Mary Washington baskets, CNU continued to add to the lead with another 10-0 run. Snively was in the middle of it again as she buried a high-arcing three-pointer over a defender's hand and then diced through the defense for a deuce inside. The defense also ratcheted up even further as Hailey Kellogg snagged a steal and found Katerina Dakos for a fast-break bucket and then set up Dakos again for a transition three with 1:28 remaining to force a Mary Washington timeout. 

In the second quarter, Christopher Newport put 31 points on the board while continuing to keep Mary Washington quiet to the tune of just 13 points. CNU forced another 14 turnovers while grabbing eight steals and scoring a whopping 19 points off of those turnovers. The Captains buried three from deep and knocked down 8-of-10 free throws to build the halftime lead, which stood at 36-23. The 23-4 run in the middle of the second quarter proved a game-changing roll for CNU. 

In the second half, San Diego and Sherman provided the bulk of the spark for the Captains inside and out. Sherman, playing against her former team, logged 19 minutes in the game and put up one of her finest performances of the year. The graduate transfer cleaned up on the glass, hauling in seven rebounds, and showed off tremendous vision with a season-best five assists. Four of her five dimes came on kickout passes to three-point shooters including all three made by San Diego. 

With those three triples, San Diego put together her best game of the 2024-25 season with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The point guard also dished a pair of assists and has strung together four straight games without committing a single turnover. Her assist-to-turnover ratio in the four-game stretch is 14-to-0. San Diego also added a pair of steals in the game to help the Captains defense force 41 Mary Washington turnovers in the game. 

The 41 giveaways are tied for the third most this season against the Captains and CNU took advantage, scoring 32 points after turnovers. Hannah Orloff and Camille Malagar led the way with three steals apiece while seven more Captains, including San Diego, had two apiece. Orloff also had four blocked shots in the contest, including a streak of three in a row in the fourth quarter in less than a minute of game time. 

Snively led the Captains with 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting and San Diego was the only other Captain in double figures. The potent offense continues to average over 80 points per game this season without a single player averaging double figures. Malagar, the leading scorer this season, finished with nine points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. 

Christopher Newport closes out a four-game homestand with four dominant victories at the Freeman Center. The Captains average margin of victory in the four-game set was +39.75 with over 31 turnovers per game. 

CNU will next travel to Guilford College (11-6) on Wednesday, January 29 at 5:00 p.m.