NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With a hard-fought come-from-behind victory at home on Wednesday night, the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team clinched one of the top two seeds in next week's Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. With that, CNU earned a first-round bye and will host a CAC Semifinal matchup on Thursday, February 25 in a doubleheader with the nationally-ranked men's team. St. Mary's (Md.) (8-16, 6-11) would not make it easy on the Captains (22-2, 15-2), who escaped with their 17th-straight victory, 58-55. 

CNU led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, but a torrid comeback from the Seahawks in the third stanza saw the road team take control as the minutes waned. St. Mary's leaned on sturdy defensive work in the paint and a hot streak from outside by Kerri Kline to pull ahead by seven points with just 6:36 remaining in the game. 

Head coach Bill Broderick called one of his remaining timeouts after Kline's fourth triple of the game made it 45-38 and gave the Seahawks their second 7-point edge of the fourth quarter. Following that break, the Captains snapped back into form and defended their home court, clawing back into control down the home stretch. Led by rookies Zhara Tannor on defense and Brooke Basinger on the offensive end, CNU finally tied the game back up at 47, and then again at 57. 

Tannor locked down the defensive end, grabbing four steals in the final six minutes, leading to six key points on the other end. Basinger hit back-to-back three-pointers, including one from the corner on an inbounds play that tied the game at 47 with 4:04 remaining. Then, after St. Mary's grabbed the lead back and held off CNU for a two-minute stretch, it was Tannor at the free-throw line tying things up at 53 with 1:41 to go. Tannor ripped the ball from Bella Vagnoni and raced to the basket where she was hit and was sent to the line on the fast-break foul.

On the very next possession, it was Tannor with another steal and Basinger with the go-ahead trey from the wing. With 1:13 remaining in the game, Sam Porter dished back to Basinger outside and the freshman nailed her fifth and final three of the night to get CNU back on top, 56-53. Basinger posted a career-high 17 points including a 5-for-8 effort from distance and 6-for-9 shooting performance from the field. 

After taking the lead, Kline converted a jumper just inside the line from the top of the key to cut the lead to one, 56-55, but on the ensuing foul, sophomore Makenzie Fancher converted both free-throws to re-take a three-point lead, 58-55. In the final seven seconds, the Seahawks were unable to get another three-point attempt to try to tie and CNU pulled out its 17th straight victory. 

The Captains have now registered the second most wins in a row in program history, behind a 30-game streak set by the 2009-10 team. It is the longest winning streak under head coach Bill Broderick and is the fifth longest active streak in the country. 

Nina Haller had a sensational night for the road team, finishing just three blocked shots shy of a triple-double. She scored 16 points while grabbing 12 rebounds with seven blocks, setting the Freeman Center record for swats by an opponent. Kline added a team-high 17 points, and Olivia Nowlin also finished in double figures with 10. 

Basinger's 17 was the lone double-figure scoring performance for the Captains, who struggled from the field as a team, shooting just 28.2% (20-71). Tannor finished with a career-high seven steals, while adding seven points and two assists. Fancher added seven points, six assists and a pair of steals, while Devon Byrd and Sam Porter each added nine points. Byrd added five steals and Porter grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. 

The Captains will finish out the 2015-16 regular season on Saturday, February 20 when they host Marymount University (20-4, 15-2) at 2:00 pm. The game will break a tie atop the CAC standings and the winner will be crowned the league's regular season champion, earning the top seed in next week's tournament. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com/live.