BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Behind yet another sweltering defensive effort, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team ran away with a bounce-back conference victory on Wednesday night, defeating Southern Virginia University on the road, 92-57. The Captains (12-2, 6-1) forced a season-high 52 turnovers and grabbed 28 steals in dropping the Knights to 8-5 overall, and 2-5 in league play. 

With the victory, the Captains remained locked in a three-way tie for second in the league standings with Mary Washington and the Captains' next opponent, York College of Pennsylvania. Marymount improved to 7-0 to maintain its perch atop the league standings. 

Junior Jessica Daguilh led the Captains' effort with a dominating first quarter performance. Playing against two of the top frontcourt players in the league, Daguilh managed six points and seven rebounds in the first quarter en route to a double-double. The Captains' starting forward finished the game with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. 

The Knights held on for the opening run as CNU led just 8-7 after the first 4:21, but a 13-0 run started by Daguilh gave the Captains a 21-7 lead just three minutes later. The Southern Virginia offense was flustered by the Captains defense, turning the ball over 15 times in the opening quarter. CNU scored 20 of it's 23 first-quarter points off of turnovers, building an 11-point lead after the opening stanza. 

The Captains defense, which ranked third in the naiton in turnovers forced and steals per game coming into Wednesday night's contest, continued it's season-long trend of frustrating opposing offenses. The Knights would turn the ball over 27 times in the first half, as the Captains built a 48-30 lead at the break. The tenacious press caused fits in the second half as well, as CNU forced another 25 turnovers in the second half, and dominated the fourth quarter. 

In the final 10 minutes of action, the Captains held Southern Virginia to just 1-for-10 from the field and four total points. CNU outscored the home team, 20-4, in the final quarter to stretch the lead to a final score of 92-57. In the dominant final frame, seven different Captains got in the scoring column, led by four points from Micah Maloney and four more from rookie Jasmine Norman. Kiana Kirkland, Jasmine Bonivel, and Devon Byrd each chipped in three, while Madison Howdyshell and Zhara Tannor also got on the board.

For the game, the Captains saw three players finish in double figures, led by Daguilh. Byrd posted her finest performance of the season with 11 points and eight rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Maloney added 10 points in her second straight start, while Makeda Wright had nine off the bench. Howdyshell and Norman each added eight and three more players finished with seven on the impressively balanced scoresheet. Filling the statsheet across the board, Makenzie Fancher grabbed six rebounds, scored five points, and dished five assists while grabbing a season-high six steals. 

As a team, the Captains shot over 43% (38-88) and knocked down four three-pointers. They won the battle of the boards, 47-35, while collecting 26 offensive rebounds.

Southern Virginia was plagued by foul trouble, but still got a near double-double from Shelby Butler (10 pts, 8 reb) and also got double figures from Abby Olsen (10 pts). 

Christopher Newport will return to action this Saturday, January 13 as they travel to York College of Pennsylvania for a 1:00 pm tip.