NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The CNU women's basketball team improved to 7-0 on the season with a hard-fought 51-40 victory over the University of Mary Washington (6-3). The Captains used strong defense, with six blocks and 11 steals, to hold off the Eagles at home Saturday, forcing 19 UMW turnovers. 

Sophomore Camry Green collected her fourth double-double through the first seven games, scoring a game-high 15 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Tia Perry added 12 points, including a hot start to give the Captains an early lead, as she opened the game with eight straight. 

Perry's eight points came on four field goals in the first 5:34 of the game as CNU opened a quick 8-3 lead in the early going. The Captains defense was in high form, and built the lead to 14 at 19-5 with less than eight minutes to go in the first half. Green knocked down a layup off an assist by Perry with 7:50 going for the early double-digit lead.

The Eagles would not reach double figures until there was less than a minute left in the opening stanza, when Erin Drumheller knocked down a pair of free-throws. The shots from the charity stripe made the score 22-11, which was the tally at halftime. At the break, CNU had forced 14 Mary Washington turnovers and held the Eagles to just 4-of-26 shooting, a paltry 15.4% shooting percentage.

In the second half, the shooting improved for both teams, as both teams combined to go 7-for-8 to start the half. Seven minutes into the second, Green found herself with the ball at the top of the key.  She put the ball on the floor drove to her right. After drawing a second defender, she spun in the lane and lifted a left-handed layup that dropped, and got the foul for the traditional three-point play.  After hitting the free-throw, Green had the Captains up a game-high 16 points, 40-24, with 13:06 remaining.

Mary Washington would not go away without a fight, and started to chip away. Over the next 11 minutes of game action, the Eagles went on a 16-5 run, with most of the damage coming from the charity stripe, to cut the lead all the way down to five. CNU led just 45-40 with 2:28 remaining on the clock, but after a timeout, the Captains re-took control.

On the first possession out of the timeout, Andrea Hobbs penetrated into the paint and found Green open on the back side for an easy layin and a 47-40 lead. Then, on the inbounds, Nicole Mitchell forced another turnover on her fourth steal of the game. Junior Chantal Thomas would ice the game, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 1:08 to give the Captains a double-digit lead back, 51-40. 

In the game, CNU forced 19 turnovers and picked up 12 points off of the takeaways. Of the 51 total points, the Captains scored 36 in the paint, while Mary Washington managed just 16 points close to the basket. 

CNU led wire-to-wire as all ten players that checked into the game scored at least one point and added at least one rebound. Green's double-double came with three blocks and Mitchell added five points and six rebounds to go with her four-steal performance. 

UMW was led by Carol Dye, with 11 points and five rebounds, while adding two blocks and two assists. Leading scorer Sam Partonen was just 3-of-16 from the floor, but finished with 9 points, four assists and four rebounds. 

The game against the Eagles was the last home game for over a month as the Captains will now embark on a nine-game road trip that spans through January 25. The next CNU home game will be against William Peace on January 26. The Captains are next in action on Monday, December 17 as they head on the road to take on Virginia Wesleyan College (5-4) at 6:00 pm.