Tuesday, February 18, 2025

No. 6 Captains Blow By Salisbury for Tenth Straight Win, 92-57

(Sydney Smith/CNU Athletics)

NEWPORT NEWS — Powered by another balanced performance for 40 minutes, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women’s basketball team improved to 17-1 with a 92-57 win over Salisbury University (8-9) on Saturday afternoon.

The Captains have strung together ten straight wins with eight different leading scorers in the run including a near double-double from rookie Sarah Pritz on Saturday.

Pritz closed out the day with a team-high 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. She added two seals, two assists, and a blocked shot to fill the stat sheet while going 6-for-11 from the floor. One of three double-figure scorers in the game, Pritz was joined by Elizabeth Creed, with 12 points, and Katerina Dakos, with 10.

Taking on the top-ranked perimeter defense in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, the Captains met the challenge in spades by knocking down 11 three-pointers on 19 attempts against the Sea Gulls on Saturday. CNU shot 57.9 percent from beyond the arc with eight different players connecting from long range. Fifth-year senior Gabbi San Diego buried both of her tries from deep and was one of three players to hit for a pair with Dakos and McKenna Snively joining her.

In the game, CNU shot 52.9 percent from the field including the hot-shooting effort from three-point land. The Captains were particularly efficient in the second half, shooting over 58 percent (18-31) including a third quarter that saw CNU knock down 10 of their 15 attempts. Along the way, the Captains nearly built a 50-point lead with 5:45 remaining in the second half when Sydney Sherman connected on a nice feed from Mia Wilson to make it 84-36.

While the offense was firing on all cylinders, the defense clamped down once again while being led by senior forward Hannah Orloff. In just 16 minutes of playing time, the Howell, N.J. native piled up five blocked shots. Orloff passed Rory Peets (1983-87) and moved into a tie for fourth all-time with 124 career blocks as she matched Crystal Richardson (1988-92) in CNU lore. As a team, the Captains finished with eight rejections in the game including one each from Creed, Dakos, and Pritz. In the passing lanes, CNU snagged 13 steals and forced 27 total turnovers in the game. Alexia Lindsey, Dakos, and Pritz each had a pair of thefts to lead the way.

The Captains led wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 14-2 lead in the first seven minutes. Snively tipped the Captains ahead by ten with a triple from NBA range and the lead would never dip back into single digits. After trading a couple of baskets, the Captains scored 10 straight to take a 20-point edge by the end of the opening quarter, 26-6. A heave at the buzzer by Abby Plaugher trimmed to 17 for a moment, but at the start of the second quarter, Hailey Kellogg drilled a three-pointer to swing it back to 20.

By the end of the half, a two-on-one layup by Creed on a nice pass from Lindsey gave the Captains a 49-21 advantage. CNU would coast in the second half with Snively, Wilson, and San Diego each hitting from three-point land in the third quarter as part of the 66.7 percent shooting period (10-15).

Christopher Newport dominated the paint, outrebounding Salisbury by a +20 margin with 48 rebounds including 19 on the offensive glass. CNU scored 46 points in the paint and added 23 second-chance points off those offensive caroms. Leading the rebounding column was eight from Pritz followed closely by seven each from Orloff and Creed.

The win is the 18th in a row against Salisbury dating back to the 2015-16 season.

Christopher Newport will return to action on Wednesday, January 22 as the Captains host cross-water rival Virginia Wesleyan University (5-9). CNU will tip against the Marlins at 6:00 p.m.

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