NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Junior Camry Green scored a career-high 25 points, powering the second-seeded Christopher Newport Captains (22-4) past the third-seeded Salisbury Sea Gulls (18-9) with a thrilling comeback late in the game in the Capital Athletic Conference Semifinals, 73-72. CNU trailed by seven with 5:09 left in the game, but Green and senior Nicole Mitchell carried the Captains into their first ever CAC Championship game on Saturday, March 2. 

Trailing 68-61, the Captains got a huge three-pointer from the corner by Mitchell, to pull the Captains back within four. After a layup by Kathy Albornoz, Mitchell pulled down an offensive rebound and stuck the put-back on the other end to make the score 70-66.

CNU would score the next five, capping a 10-2 run that saw the Captains re-take the lead, 71-70. The next bucket for CNU came when sophomore Brandi Holland muscled a tough lay-in up and over her defender, and then the key bucket went down with 1:59 showing on the clock. After Green grabbed a critical offensive rebound, she spun and banged in a contested layup and got the foul. She knocked down the free-throw and gave the Captains a one-point lead, 71-70. 

Salisbury responded with a minute and a half to go, as Anna Hackett found Lauren Rothfeld for an open jumper. Both teams traded empty possessions heading into the final minute and it was Christopher Newport with the ball and 45 seconds on the clock when head coach Bill Broderick called a timeout. 

Out of the break, Mitchell curled off a screen on the block and knocked down a turn-around jumper to put the Captains back in front, 73-72. After a missed free-throw, the Sea Gulls came down and missed a shot, but got the offensive rebound and called a timeout. Out of the break, Becca Himes had a look from the elbow, but Green came up with a huge block for the Captains. 

Forced to foul, Salisbury would send Chantal Thomas to the line for a one-and-one opportunity. The senior missed the front end and Salisbury junior Sarah Seipp made a break for the other end of the floor. With eight seconds remaining, Seipp cut between a pair of defenders and had a good look in the lane, but her shot rattled off the back iron and the buzzer sounded for a CNU victory. 

Green finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, grabbing 12 boards and leading the Captains' 32 points in the paint. Mitchell was 6-for-11 from the field, scoring 13 points including 11 in the second half. Holland also finished in double figures, scoring 14 points off the bench. 

Salisbury got a game-high 26 points from Seipp, including four three-pointers. Hackett, the Sea Gulls' leading scorer, had 15 points in the game, but was quiet in the second half with just two points. Himes and Rothfeld finished with 11 and 10, respectively. 

The back-and-forth battle saw the lead change 14 times and tied another 12. The Captains led by as many as five in the first half before Salisbury closed the opening stanza with a 42-37 lead. Both teams shot over 40%, with CNU knocking down 41.2% (28-68) and Salisbury hitting 44.3% (27-61). 

The Captains advance into the CAC Championship Game on Saturday, March 2, and will travel to top-seeded York College of Pennsylvania. The CAC title game will be a matchup of Top 20 teams, as the 20th-ranked Captains will take on the 14th-ranked Spartans. The two teams split the regular season series, with each winning on their home floor.