GALLATIN, Tenn. -- Facing a nationally-ranked opponent in their final game before the Christmas holiday, the third-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team utilized a 21-1 run in the second quarter to flip the scoreboard and pull away from No. 16 Whitman College (9-2) in the Music City Classic on Wednesday afternoon. The Captains won, 70-61, and improve to 12-0 on the season with the hard-fought victory after holding off the Blues in the second half.

Three CNU players finished in double figures as the Captains shot 45.6 percent from the field as a team (26-57). Alivia Giles led the way with 19 points and six rebounds while Camille Malagar and Hannah Kaloi each poured in 17 for CNU. At moments, each player had impactful runs in the game to lead Christopher Newport to victory. 

The Captains fell behind by 13 in the first half, 24-11, before putting together a 10-0 run to trim the lead back to four. After Whitman stopped the roll with 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, back-to-back layups by Giles got the Captains all the way back within one, 25-24, with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
 
After another defensive stop, the Captains looked to sophomore Hailey Kellogg for a drive into the paint and the second-year point guard dished off to Malagar for an easy lay-in and the lead. On the next offensive possession, Alexia Lindsey cleaned up the offensive glass after a missed triple with a stick-back bucket.
 
In total, the Captains burst grew to 21-1 before heading to the locker room with a seven-point lead, 32-25. Malagar led the way in the first half with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting while Giles added six on 3-of-5 from the field. CNU outscored Whitman in the second quarter, 21-5, and held the Blues to just 2-of-15 from the floor for 13.3 percent shooting.
 
After a mostly back-and-forth third quarter, a key play came with 1:03 remaining in the period when the Kellogg to Malagar connection worked again. This time, Malagar drove baseline and the second-year point guard slipped a bounce pass through a pair of defenders to free the veteran guard for a tough finish at the rim. She connected on the lay-up and converted the free-throw for a three-point play and the lead extended back to seven, 48-41.
 
CNU got a turnover seconds later and Giles finished a second-chance opportunity to extend the lead to nine. As Whitman tried to move quickly down the floor, Malagar sprinted down and swatted a Blues chance out of bounds with a mammoth blocked shot. Whitman did finish just before the buzzer to keep the lead where it was at halftime, at seven, 50-43.
 
Whitman knocked down their first three-pointer of the game early in the fourth quarter on a mini 5-0 run to cut the lead down to two, 50-48. Two possessions later, Gabbi San Diego lobbed a high arcing pass into Giles and the senior forward finished again, making it 54-50. After a made basket, Whitman was on the run for a fast break, but rookie Caitlin Crump stepped in on a 2-v-1 situation and picked up a big block to prevent the Blues from tying the game. It lasted only a moment, though, as Whitman converted on their next attempt and the game was knotted a 54-all.
 
Answering the call, Kaloi stepped up with a fallaway jumper and then a big steal by McKenna Snively allowed the Captains to extend back to four when Kaloi sealed her defender in the lane and finished with a left-handed layup. She finished out a personal 6-0 run with a pair of free-throws and CNU again had some breathing room, up 60-54.
 
Whitman would not go quietly, finishing on a drive to the basket and then hitting their second three-pointer of the game to get back within one, 60-59, and force a CNU timeout. Again the Captains turned to Kaloi, who had caught fire in the fourth quarter. The junior forward dribbled into the lane, pivoted and sank a short jumper to make it 62-59 with less than three minutes to go.
 
After another Whitman turnover, the Captains got another second-chance bucket from Alivia Giles. Down to the final 90 seconds, the Blues got a tough layup and CNU had the ball up three. After a timeout, CNU went back to Kaloi and she was fouled on a shot attempt. At the line, she hit the first to give the Captains a four-point edge, 65-61. Needing a basket to keep it close, Whitman committed their 16th turnover against the vaunted CNU defense and was forced to foul, sending Gabbi San Diego to the line where she converted both.

As a team, CNU was 17-for-21 from the charity stripe for 81 percent efficiency, helping ice the win against the nationally-ranked Blues. Whitman got 30 points from Korin Baker on 14-of-17 shooting and 13 out of Lindsay Drango, but the rest of the team combined to go only 8-for-34 from the field. 

Meanwhile, CNU protected the ball with only 12 turnovers and out-rebounded Whitman despite a size advantage down low for the Blues. The Captains hauled in 38 rebounds including 12 on the offensive end while holding Whitman to just 35 caroms. It marks just the third time this season that the Blues have been outrebounded in a game. 

Christopher Newport will now take a break for eight days before returning to action against New Paltz in the opener of the Stevens Institute of Technology Classic next Friday, December 29. The Captains will tip at 7:00 p.m. and will also face the host Ducks on Saturday, December 30 at 3:00 p.m.