GLENSIDE, Pa. -- After facing a three-point barrage for two-and-a-half quarters, the 15th-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team clamped down defensively and pulled away from Arcadia University (3-2) for a second straight dominant win on the road, 93-68. The Captains improved to 4-2 with a 25-point win while sophomore Madison McKenzie recorded her first career double-double with a career night against the Knights. 

McKenzie flirted with a triple double despite just 21 minutes played as she poured in a career-high 27 points with 10 rebounds and five steals. She added three assists while shooting an impressive 8-of-9 from the free-throw line to lead the way for the Captains in front of a crowd of over 200 at Alumni Gymnasium in Glenside, Pa. 

The home team kept pace with the nationally-ranked Captains courtesy of 10 first-half three-pointers, but by the end of the third quarter CNU had built a ten-point advantage, 74-64. In the final ten minutes, Christopher Newport outscored Arcadia, 19-4, and held the Knights to just one made field goal in the final ten minutes. 

For the second straight game, the CNU defense locked down in the fourth quarter as Arcadia was just 1-for-10 from the field with 12 turnovers against the Captains. The full court pressure earned Christopher Newport seven steals in the last stanza to finish the game with 17. CNU finished out the game scoring 30 points off 29 Arcadia turnovers. 

Prior to the strong finish, the Captains and Knights went back-and-forth in the first quarter. Neither team led by more than three points as the score continued to hinge on three-point shooting. Arcadia knocked down five first-quarter three-pointers from four different players, but could not extend a lead because Christopher Newport answered with triples from McKenzie and Sarah Pritz at the end of the quarter. 

In the second quarter, Christopher Newport started to build a lead but five more triples kept the Knights close until it was 37-all with 3:30 remaining in the half. It was then that CNU went on a 14-3 run to take the first-double-digit lead of the game with a traditional three-point play by McKenzie early in the third quarter, making it 51-40. 

Yet another pair of triples trimmed the lead to five, 51-46, but the Captains scored seven in a row to re-take a double-digit. McKenzie knocked in a jumper, Pritz finished on a layup after a nice pass from Jessica Dornak and Sydney Worsham hamered home a fast-break three-pointer to put the Captains up 58-46. The lead would grow to as many as 14 in the third quarter before a flourish from beyond the arc from the home team temporarily trimmed the lead back to nine, 70-61, but McKenzie scored eight straight points to hold off the comeback. 

In the fourth quarter, CNU turned to Dornak with back-to-back layups to start the scoring and then Elizabeth Creed finished off a feed from Hailey Kellogg. McKenzie stayed hot, dropping in back-to-back layups and two free throws for another six straight points. Transfer Kendra Rigo snapped the twine with a three-pointer and rookies Sydney Richardson and Hazel Grepps added buckets to extend the lead to a game-high 27, 93-66. 

The Captains had a decisive 50-38 advantage on the glass that included 23 offensive rebounds. CNU scored 26 second-chance points off those caroms that included eight offensive boards for McKenzie. 

Beyond the sophomore star on Saturday afternoon, two more Captains finished in double figures with junior Mia Wilson adding 11 points with three made triples and Dornak finishing with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Kellogg led the team with five assists paired with just one turnover; transfer guard Atiana Williams added four dimes and no turnovers off the bench while also adding four points, two rebounds, and two steals. 

Junior Caitlin Crump answered the call with a big three-pointer to follow a would-be momentum shifting trey from the Knights and finished with two three-pointers in the game. She scored eight points as part of the balanced scoring performance that also saw Pritz notch nine points, six rebounds, and Worsham add seven points. 

As a team, the Captains shot 41.4 percent (36-87) including nine makes from long range. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday, November 25 as they travel to Averett University for a 6:00 p.m. tip.