Women's Basketball Upends Ferrum, 75-66

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Christopher Newport's women's basketball team won its eighth straight and clinched no worse than the three-seed enroute to a 75-66 win over Ferrum Sunday afternoon.

The Lady Captains avenged an earlier season loss, 77-70 at Ferrum back on Jan. 21 where CNU let a 15-point lead slip away.

The biggest lead of the first half for the Lady Captains was the score at intermission, 39-27, Colandra Rollins' lay-up with 21 seconds left provided it the halftime margin.

CNU shot exceptionally well in both halves. The Lady Captains were 16-of-26 (62%) from the floor in the first session, their best in any half all season. They finished 1-of-4 on threes and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

The Panthers were limited to just 11-of-35 (31%) from the the field, 0-of-3 from beyond the arc and 5-of-9 (56%) from the charity stripe.

In the second half, the Lady Captains continued their hot shooting, but too many turnovers allowed Ferrum to keep the game close. Ferrum forced 17 second half turnovers.

CNU led by as many as 15 in the second half, 49-34, with 15:24 remaining in the game on a lay-up by Rollins. The Panthers would cut the lead to as few as five in the second half, 63-58 with 4:29 left in the game.

The Lady Captains would answer and close out the game with solid defense and free throws.

In the second half, FC shot 15-of-40 (38%) from the floor, 2-of-11 (18%) from beyond the arc and 7-of-9 from the line. CNU finished 10-of-20 (50%) from the field, 1-of-1 on threes and 15-of-19 (79%) from the charity stripe.

For the game, the Panthers were 26-of-75 (34%) from the field, 2-of-14 (14%) on threes and 12-of-18 (67%) from the free throw line.

CNU was 26-of-46 (57%) from the floor, the team's best output all season, 2-of-5 on threes and 21-of-26 (81%) from the charity stripe.

Ferrum was led by Aline Alzime's 19 points and 10 rebounds. She eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in her career, needing eight entering today's game. Tawanna McCall finished with 17 points and 10 boards.

Christopher Newport was led by Colandra Rollins career high 32 points on 10-of-11 shooting and 12-of-16 from the free throw line, all of which came off the bench. Her 32 points was also the most scored under Head Coach Carolyn Hunter and the third time one of her players has scored 30 or more points in a game in Hunter's tenure. Rollins also tied a career-high with 13 rebounds.

Candace Bryant finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, Nikki Rowland added 10 points and six assists while Dee Luck added eight points, nine rebounds, six assists and eight blocks, one off the school record.

The Panthers are now 10-12 overall and 6-6 in the USA South. CNU improves to 16-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play. The Lady Captains can finish no worse than third place in the USA South regular season standings, securing a quarterfinal home game on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Box Score