BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- Closing out a trip to Bridgewater College for an early-season tournament, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team fell to 2-2 with a 59-38 setback at the hands of 8th-ranked Johns Hopkins (5-0) at Nininger Hall on Sunday afternoon. 

The Captains endured a tough night shooting the ball and could not hold off a red-hot Blue Jays squad in the neutral site matchup in the Bridgewater Invitational. Despite the shooting woes, the CNU defense continued to force turnovers against Hopkins, forcing 19 giveaways while grabbing six steals. 

Junior Elizabeth Creed and rookie Sydney Worsham each scored six points to lead the Captains while Noelle Cabiness hauled in a team-high six rebounds in the game. Sydney Richardson also hauled in five rebounds for the Captains. 

In the first quarter, the Captains hung tough with the top-ten foe, as Caitlin Crump knocked down the first bucket of the game for CNU off a feed from senior point guard Hailey Kellogg. Creed added a pair of early free throws and Madison McKenzie tilted the score in favor of the Captains with a layup just over three minutes into the game. After Hopkins responded with a three-pointer, Sarah Pritz snagged a steal and set up a fast-break layup by Mia Wilson to retake the lead, 8-7, with 5:33 showing on the first quarter clock. 

At the end of the first, the Blue Jays took a three-point lead, 14-11, and then applied pressure to the Captains in the second with an 11-2 run to take a double-digit lead, 25-13, with 4:21 left in the first half. McKenzie slowed the run and Worsham buried a three-pointer in the last minute, but Johns Hopkins held an 11-point advantage at the break, 30-19. 

The lead swelled to 19 in the third quarter before the Captains closed on a modest 7-2 spurt to cut the lead back to 14 before the final ten minutes of action, 46-32. Unfortunately for CNU, that would be as close as they would get as Hopkins extended the lead late for a 59-38 final. 

The Captains defense held JHU to just 13 fourth-quarter points and kept the talented opponent to no more than 16 points in each quarter. CNU held the Blue Jays to just 37.3 percent (25-67) shooting from the floor including a paltry 17.9 percent (5-28) from long range. 

All but two CNU players hauled in at least one rebound and 12 Captains finished with multiple caroms as the Captains worked hard on the glass. Rookies Lily Soller and Kaycee Doughty each hauled in four along with junior Jessica Dornak.

The Captains have a quick turnaround as they travel to TCNJ on Wednesday, November 19 for the next game. Tip against the Lions is set for 5:00 p.m.