NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Leaning on a dominant defensive stand through the middle two periods, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team secured an eighth straight victory and rolled past York College of Pennsylvania (2-7) on Friday night in the second game of the Inaugural Nelson Hinson Invitational, 70-50. The Captains improved to 10-2 on the season with another impressively balanced performance offensively with 14 CNU players registering at least one point in the game. 

The CNU defense held the Spartans to just five points in the second quarter and allowed only eight in the third as the home team stretched their lead to as many as 33 points late in the third quarter, 54-21. While the defense was playing unselfish, disciplined basketball, the Captains were whistled for just four fouls in the middle 20 minutes of game action.

Hosting the first annual Nelson Hinson Invitational, the Captains toppled from conference foe York College by 20 points. In the first game of the day, Catholic earned a 67-46 win over Maryville College and will face the Captains in the championship game tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m.. York and Maryville will face off in the tournament consolation game at 1:00 p.m. 

In the early portion of the first quarter, the teams traded the lead three times and saw the score knotted up thrice as well, but a 15-0 run for the Captains starting at the end of the first quarter and running through the first three minutes of the second proved to be a momentum-shifting spurt. Looking inside against the Spartans, the Captains scored all six field goals in the 15-0 run from inside the paint. The other three points came from the line, including on a three-point play by McKenna Snively ninety seconds into the second quarter to push the lead into double figures. 

In the run, Jessica Dornak scored twice and Elizabeth Creed scored twice while senior point guard Hailey Kellogg added a highlight-reel scoop. Kellogg was also busy distributing, picking up three of her season-high six assists in the CNU roll. As the CNU defense held York to just a single field goal in the final 5:30 of the half, the Captains finished out the quarter with a put-back layup by Kendra Rigo to take a 14-point lead into the locker room, 31-17. 

The stingy defense ramped up even more in the third quarter as CNU opened up the second half with another big run that extended the lead to 33. The Captains scored 23 of the first 27 points in the second half and, until a late three by the Spartans, held York to three makes in a run of 19 attempts from the field. Meanwhile, the full court pressure was causing fits as the Captains forced 23 turnovers by the visitors and grabbed 13 steals in the game. 

With the big lead in hand, Christopher Newport closed out the win with 16 more points scored in the fourth quarter. Rookie Sydney Richardson led the way late for CNU, scoring all eight of her points in the first 11:37 of game time. She knocked down a three-pointer from the corner at the end of the third quarter and then added three straight free throws and the last bucket of the night for CNU. She also snagged a couple of steals in the final quarter to help lead the defensive side. 

Another freshman, Kaycee Doughty, scored four more points in the final frame with a short jumper from the base line extended to open the fourth quarter scoring and then added a nice slip to the basket for a layup on a feed by Madison McKenzie. Mia Wilson, Hazel Grepps, and Denniyah Tanner each scored in the final stanza to help establish the verdict, 70-50. 

Elizabeth Creed led the Captains in scoring with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Jessica Dornak added 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds while knocking down 5-of-6 shots from the field. Caitlin Crump and McKenna Snively each added nine-point performances for CNU while Richardson rounded out the top scorers with eight. 

CNU dominated the glass, outrebounding the Spartans by 25 with 55 caroms to 30 for the visitors. The Captains hauled in 28 offensive rebounds and turned them into 21 second-chance points in the game.

Christopher Newport will look to make it nine in a row on Saturday as they take on the Cardinals of Catholic University. Catholic was ranked earlier this season and are receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25. The Cardinals have won seven of their last eight games heading into the matchup with the Captains. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com