Women's Basketball Comes From Behind To Defeat Peace, 74-67

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Christopher Newport's women's basketball team came from nine down in the second half to defeat Peace 74-67 Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Captains trailed by nine just a minute and a half into the second half when Peace's Christy Freeman's jumper put the Pacers ahead 35-26. CNU countered with a 14-4 run to take the lead 40-39 with 11:36 to play in the game on a free throw by Colandra Rollins.

The Pacers bounced back and went on a 9-4 run of their own to re-take the lead by four, 48-44 on Kim Zullo's bucket with 9:40 remaining. CNU's 19-5 run put them up 10, 63-53, with 2:53 left in the game on a jumper in the lane by Krystal Vest.

Peace would not go quietly as they trimmed the lead to as few as three several times over the final minute. Brittany Lynn's bucket with 41 ticks to play cut the Lady Captains lead to 67-64. Christy Freeman also drained a three-pointer with 18 seconds to go to cut the lead to 70-67.

Christopher Newport, after shooting poorly in the first half from the free throw line, clinched the game in the final minutes by hitting 13 of its final 14 free throws.

The Pacers led 29-26 at the break. Neither team shot very well from the floor in the opening stanza. Peace was 11-of-28 (39%) from the floor and 4-of-6 from the line. What put the Pacers on top was their three three-pointers they sank, compared to the Lady Captains none. CNU was 11-of-29 (38%) from the field but just 4-of-10 from the free throw line.

Both teams came alive in the second half. PC was 12-of-27 (44%) from the field, 3-of-7 (43%) from behind the arc and 11-of-12 (92%) from the stripe. The Lady Captains were 12-of-21 (57%) from the floor, 1-of-3 from the line, but the difference was CNU's free throw shooting. Christopher Newport finished 23-of-27 (85%) from the line alone in the second half.

For the game, Peace was 23-of-55 (42%) from the field, 6-of-15 (40%) from long range and 15-of-18 (83%) from the charity stripe. CNU finished 23-of-50 (46%) from the floor, 1-of-4 (25%) on three-point attempts and 27-of-37 (73%) from the free throw line.

Peace was lead by Christy Freeman's 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. LeAnne Horne added 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Amanda Cross finished with 12 points off the bench.

The Lady Captains were paced by Candace Bryant's 15 points and 10 rebounds. Shantel Burwell and Alicia Bessey contributed 11 points each and Dee Luck added 10 points, 11 rebounds, five blocks and four steals.

Peace falls to 7-12 overall and 1-8 in conference play. Christopher Newport, winners of seven of its last eight games, improves to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in the USA South.

CNU returns to action Tuesday as they travel to NC Wesleyan with tip-off set for 5:30 pm.

Box Score