MILWAUKEE, Wis. — With a dominant fourth-quarter performance, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women’s basketball team pulled away from third-seeded Mary Washington to secure the Captains’ sixth straight conference championship on Saturday afternoon, 61-48. CNU closed the game on an 18-2 run while holding Mary Washington to just one made field goal in the final seven-plus minutes.
Hoisting the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference crown for the fourth straight season, the Captains added to an overall run of six straight conference titles. A number of impressive streaks continued through the championship victory as Christopher Newport secured the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship and will appear in the postseason event for a ninth straight year. CNU added another win to a 19-game winning streak and has now defeated Mary Washington in 16 straight matchups including each of the last three conference title bouts.
The Captains were led by tournament MVP Camille Malagar with 15 points including a pair of three-pointers. Also earning All-Tournament honors were fifth-year senior point guard Gabbi San Diego, with 13 points, and rookie Madison McKenzie, adding 11 points in the championship game.
For the third time in three matchups against the Eagles this season, Mary Washington jumped out to an early double-digit lead against the third-ranked and top-seeded Captains. Mary Washington pulled ahead, 12-2, on a jumper by Elizabeth Barry, and then again, 14-4, when Leila Carter converted moments later in the first quarter. CNU closed on a small run, thinning the gap to six when San Diego diced through the lane and finished with a beautiful turnaround jumper close to the basket. She then snagged a steal and was fouled before hitting two free-throw and cutting the lead to six, 14-8, courtesy of the short spurt.
Mary Washington teetered back ahead by eight early in the second quarter, 18-10, but the Captains caught fire from beyond the arc to close the gap. First, McKenzie drilled a triple off a feed from San Diego with 8:33 remaining in the first half. After a long scoreless drought on both ends, the Captains went to San Diego from deep with six minutes left. Elizabeth Creed set up San Diego for the trey and then quickly grabbed a steal in transition. After a stoppage, Malagar found herself open for three and the 9-2 burst pulled CNU back within one, 20-19, heading into the media timeout.
The momentum was slowed with back-and-forth play for the next few minutes, but a 7-0 finish to the half gave the Captains the lead at intermission, 30-25. McKenzie did the bulk of the work with a pair of free-throws and a layup while rookie Sarah Pritz also added a three-pointer to give the Captains a lead.
In the tightly contested title matchup, the Captains and Eagles each held small leads in the third quarter before the two teams went into the final ten minutes deadlocked at 43 points apiece. And that is where the game would be won, as Christopher Newport’s defense ratcheted up its intensity in the must-win final stanza.
Neither team was able to light up the scoreboard in the first two minutes of the final period before Megan Baxter connected on a triple with 7:46 remaining. The three-pointer scooted Mary Washington ahead for mere moments, 46-43, as junior Hailey Kellogg buried a momentous game-tying three on the very next possession. After a missed jumper, Kellogg found Malagar for another three and once again the Captains took the lead. The two shots from beyond the arc kicked off a 10-0 run that put CNU ahead by seven, 53-46, with less than four and a half minutes to go.
Baxter added a layup to pull Mary Washington back within five, 53-48, but it proved to be the last points of the game for the Eagles. San Diego added a short jumper and Hannah Orloff connected on a pair of free-throws. Forced to foul after a turnover, the Eagles sent San Diego to the line for two more and she confidently dropped in both to give CNU an insurmountable double-digit lead with a minute to play. The final score came from McKenzie on a fast-break layup after a steal, sealing the sixth straight championship for CNU.
The Captains forced 21 turnovers including five in the decisive fourth quarter. McKenzie finished with five steals paired with her 11-point performance. San Diego and Malagar each had a pair of steals while combining for 28 points between them.
Baxter was the lone Mary Washington player in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Jenna Steadman added nine points while Barry had eight.
CNU will now advance to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in 12 seasons under head coach Bill Broderick while improving to 8-0 in conference tournament play under the C2C banner. Since joining the league in 2013-14, CNU women’s basketball is 17-4 in conference tournament action with seven championships. It stands as the 18th conference championship in program history with eleven coming as members of the USA South Athletic Conference.
The NCAA Selection Show will be aired live on NCAA.com at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3. Tournament location, opponent, and more information will be announced at CNUsports.com following the live show online.
