INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The third-ranked Christopher Newport women’s basketball team, six-time defending champions of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, will face Montclair State University in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship. The Captains, who secured the league’s automatic berth into the postseason event, will travel to Catholic University of America for the neutral site matchup in the first round on Friday, March 7. The host Cardinals will take on SUNY Geneseo in the second game.
Tip against the Red Hawks is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. with the second game scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The two advancing teams will then play on Saturday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. with a berth into the sectional round on the line.
The Captains reached the NCAA Tournament for the 25th time in program history and are making the team’s ninth consecutive postseason appearance. In 12 seasons under the direction of C2C Coach of the Year Bill Broderick, the Captains have advanced to the NCAA Tournament 11 times.
With their 25th selection this year, CNU ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances for women’s basketball. Only Scranton, making a record 37th NCAA appearance, WashU (33), Southern Maine (26), and St. Thomas (MN) (26) have had more. Tied with Wartburg, CNU also boasts the second longest active streak of postseason appearances with nine, trailing only Scranton’s 12-year run heading into the 2025 version of the event.
Christopher Newport is 26-1 overall after winning the team’s sixth straight conference championship and will be taking on a Montclair State squad that captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship with a 72-63 win. The Red Hawks are 23-4 overall this season and are playing in the postseason event for the first time since 2020. It will be the second time the two teams have faced off in the NCAA Tournament after a Round of 16 matchup in the 2013 tournament where Christopher Newport won, 83-70. CNU is 2-0 all-time against the Red Hawks with the only other matchup coming in 1997.
Ticket prices will be announced when it is made available by Catholic. Live stats and a live video webcast will be free of charge for fans unable to attend in person, with links found at CNUsports.com.
Dating back to December 29, 2019, the Captains are 127-5 including a 110-5 record over the last four seasons. In NCAA Tournament play, the Captains are 37-24 all-time including a 25-9 record under Coach Broderick. CNU has advanced to the second weekend in 11 of the last 12 postseason appearances.
This season, CNU has been led by the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year Hannah Orloff with 8.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while adding 61 blocks. The scoring leader for CNU in 2024-25 has been Camille Malagar, the C2C Tournament MVP, with 10.2 points per game. Malagar is pouring in over 45 percent of her shots and leads the conference in three-point shooting with over 36 percent knocked down beyond the arc.
Montclair State is led by head coach Karin Harvey and the Red Hawks captured a seventh NJAC title this year. This season marks the greatest turnaround in program history after finishing 9-16 in 2023-24. Led by one of Division I transfer Sophie Beneventine at the point, the Red Hawks average over 70 points per game with over 16 assists per game. Beneventine ranks fifth in the country in assists per game, with 5.8, while finding leading scorers Alyssa Craigwell (15.7 ppg) and Olivia Vero (13.8 ppg) most often. Craigwell was named the NJAC Rookie of the Year and was a first team All-Conference selection.
The other first round matchup will feature Catholic (24-4), an at-large selection as the Landmark Conference runner-up, and SUNY Geneseo (22-6), the Empire 8 champions.
