GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Christopher Newport University (25-3) won their third straight USA South Tournament Championship on Sunday, upending the top-seeded Greensboro College Pride (26-2) on their home floor, 53-47. CNU allowed just 17 second-half points and surged past Greensboro with tremendous team defense, holding Greensboro to just 24.2% for the game.
The Captains won their third straight conference championship and fifth in the last eight years. Senior Chelsie Schweers was named the Tournament MVP for the third time in her career, while classmates Jessica Moore and Barbara Davis were also named to the All-Tournament squad. Danielle Duncan and Chevena Pickard rounded out the team.
The Captains earn the USA South's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will await the selection announcement tomorrow for when and who they will face in the opening round.
The game had a grind-it-out feel from the start, as both teams defenses were the story throughout. The Captains shot just 27.6% in the first half on 8-29 shooting and the Pride was just 31.4% on 11-35 attempts. Danielle Duncan was stellar for the Pride, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the first half. The Captains used a balanced attack to keep within three at the break, down 30-27 at intermission.
In the second half, the Captains came out firing, as Schweers knocked down a three to tie the game and swing the momentum. Greensboro managed to teeter back into the lead for the first ten minutes of the half, maintaining a two-possession lead, but the Captains amped it up with about ten minutes remaining.
With the score 41-36 with 11:35 remaining, head coach Carolyn Hunter called a timeout. On the ensuing possession, Davis, playing with three fouls, swatted a Greensboro shot that led to a quick basket on the other end by Jessica Moore. Then, on the next possession it was deja vu, as a block by Davis led to another easy layup by Moore. Finally, capping a key 6-0 run to take the first lead of the second half was Schweers, who picked off a pass and ran it the length of the floor for the fast break layup and the lead, 42-41.
Greensboro tried to stop the bleeding with a bucket by Jada Alvarado on the next possession, but that would prove to be the final made field goal of the game for Greensboro, who went empty in the final 9:39 of game time. A layup from Jessica Moore gave CNU the lead for good on the next possession, followed by a mid-range jumper from Schweers to extend the lead to five, 48-43.
The Captains finished the game on a 17-6 run to win the game, including allowing just one field goal in that stretch. CNU posted 10 steals in the game and held the Pride to just 16.1% shooting in the second half on 5-of-31 attempts.
Schweers and Moore tied for the team-high in scoring with 14 points each, while Schweers added seven rebounds, six steals and there assists. She is just 14 points shy of Lamont Strothers' school scoring record of 2,709. Lauren Gural was the unsung hero of the game, scoring six points and grabbing six rebounds, but doing all the things that don't show up in the stat sheet. Gural took a key charge with 1:00 remaining that all but iced the game for CNU.
For Greensboro, Duncan led the way with 23 points and 17 rebounds, but was bottled up by Gural's defense in the second half and plagued by foul trouble, scoring just five points in the second 20 minutes. Pickard had eight points and 10 rebounds for Greensboro and senior guard Nikki Wilborn added seven points and five rebounds.
The Captains grinded out a tough victory to avenge a loss on the Greensboro floor earlier this season, a loss that snapped a 27-game conference winning streak. CNU and Greensboro have combined to win each of the last eight USA South championships.
Christopher Newport will await the selection show announcement tomorrow at 3:00 pm. The show will be streamed live at NCAA.com -- stay tuned to CNUsports.com for more information.