ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Unable to withstand a barrage of three-point shooting from the nationally-ranked Bears in the St. Pete Classic finale, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team suffered a 72-53 loss to No. 18 WashU (9-2) on Tuesday afternoon to snap a ten-game winning streak. The Captains fell to 12-3 overall after their first loss in six weeks came at Eckerd College in the neutral site tournament in Florida.
Six of the first seven makes from the field for WashU came from beyond the arc as the Bears built a big advantage early and were able to hold off the Captains for the remainder of the game. WashU, coming into the game with a top-ten scoring offense in the nation with the second most efficient shooting percentage in Division III, showed how it also ranks 21st nationally in three-point percentage as the Bears knocked down 13 triples in the game while shooting over 59 percent.
The Captains' defense actually held WashU below its scoring average and forced a season-high 22 turnovers by the Bears. CNU also outrebounded their opponent, marking just the second time this season that the nationally-ranked foe had given up the advantage on the glass when CNU hauled in 44 rebounds to just 37 for WashU.
The rebounding advantage, which included 24 offensive rebounds for the Captains, could not overcome a frigid shooting performance from the Captains which included a 5-for-33 effort in the second half (15.2 percent). For the game, CNU knocked down 23.6 percent from the field, going 17-for-72.
The Bears jumped out to a double-digit lead five minutes into the game with the deadly three-point shooting, taking a 17-7 advantage in the first quarter. The lead would grow to as many as 19 in the second quarter, 35-16, with 6:46 remaining before CNU started a methodical trek back.
Madison McKenzie kicked things off with a traditional three-point play before
Elizabeth Creed knocked in a long ball off a feed from
Atiana Williams. After a missed layup, Creed cleaned up the glass with a stick-back and the Captains' eight straight points trimmed the lead back to 11.
WashU answered with back-to-back three-pointers again, but McKenzie and
McKenna Snively each converted tough layups in the lane to make it 41-28 with 2:20 left. In the final 90 seconds of the half,
Caitlin Crump buried a trey and
Jessica Dornak answered a late two with one of her own to pull CNU back within ten, 45-35, but a buzzer-beating three by Sidney Rogers extended the halftime lead back to 13 headed into the second half, 48-35.
The hard work continued as CNU rallied early in the third quarter to trim the deficit to single digits with 7:44 left. Snively started the second half with a finish off a feed by Dornak and McKenzie dropped in a pair of free throws. It was the only scoring for either team in the first four and a half minutes as both teams went ice cold from the field in the third quarter. WashU found the shooting stroke first, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and re-establishing a comfortable lead before heading into the final quarter. The CNU defense held the Bears to just 3-for-11 in the third quarter but the offense could not take advantage and mustered just 1-for-17 from the field.
The teams played even through the fourth quarter with
Sarah Pritz leading the offensive production for Christopher Newport. Pritz knocked down a pair of shots including a three for five points while adding a rebound and one steal in the fourth. McKenzie continued a strong effort at the line in the game by going 3-for-4 in the fourth and the sophomore closed out the game 8-for-10 at the stripe.
McKenna Snively led all CNU scorers with 15 points (5-of-9) with a pair of three-pointers. McKenzie also finished in double figures with 12 points while adding five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Christopher Newport will look to bounce back at home in their next game as the Captains return to the Freeman Center to host Stockton University on Saturday, January 3 at 2:00 p.m.
