NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport junior Sam Porter put the team on her back and led the fifth-ranked Captains (18-0, 11-0) to a hard-fought conference win on Wednesday night, downing Salisbury University (9-9, 5-6) by a final score of 61-58. Porter scored over half of CNU's team tally with a career-high 33 points, while also hauling in 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

It was the first time since 2011 that a single player amassed more than half of the Captains' final score, when Chelsie Schweers netted 45 points in an 81-58 victory on the road at Meredith College. Coincidentally, it was also Schweers' career-high that night, as it was for Nicole Mitchell in 2014 when she poured in 38 points at Frostburg State. That performance, by the now assistant coach at CNU, was the last 30-point game prior to Wednesday night's outburst by Porter. 

Neither team led by more than seven points in the back-and-forth battle, in a game that saw the score knotted up on 12 different occasions, while featuring 11 lead changes. In the end, CNU prevailed for it's 18th straight win, marking the second longest win streak in program history.

Porter was in control of the CNU offense from the outset, scoring 13 of the Captains' 19 points in the opening quarter. The Captains' junior forward was 3-of-6 from the field and got to the line consistently, knocking down 7-of-8 free throw attempts. Salisbury did a good job bottling her up in the second quarter, however, and took the lead by holding CNU to just 2-of-16 from the field. CNU scored just five points in the second stanza, and the Sea Gulls pulled into halftime with a 29-24 lead. 

The Captains defense forced Salisbury into some trouble in the first half, getting 15 turnovers out of the visitors, but an efficient shooting percentage (44.4% -- 12-27) was enough to hold the slight advantage. It marked just the second game this season that CNU trailed at halftime.  

Coming out of the locker room, the Captains again turned inside to the hot hand of Sam Porter. She scored six of the first eight points for CNU in the second half, turning a five-point deficit into a three-point edge with 6:46 remaining in the third quarter, 32-29. After Porter converted on her first free throw of the second half, neither team held an advantage of more than four points the rest of the way, marking a span of over 19 minutes of game action that the two teams finished the game within two possessions.

Junior Makenzie Fancher hit a big three-pointer to answer a triple from Salisbury's Mary McDonagh, while Porter continued to work hard down low to get to the free throw line. She finished the third quarter with nine more points, going 5-for-7 from the charity stripe. 

The final ten minutes of action was back-and-forth, with Lauren Rothfeld hitting five straight points to start the frame to re-take the lead for Salisbury. After a layup from Makenzie Fancher, Porter buried one of the toughest shots of the night just before the shot clock expired. She received an inbounds pass and shuffled a line drive shot toward the glass that banked in as the buzzer went off, putting CNU back ahead by one, 46-45. In the first three quarters, she combined to go 13-of-17 from the free-throw line, but in the fourth, she never made it to the line, but instead just torched the nets with a perfect 5-for-5 effort from the field, adding another 10 points to her night. 

After Salisbury took their final lead of the night, at 54-52, Porter took over. In the final 3:12, Porter scored six points and added a beautiful assist to Devon Byrd to get CNU out in front for the home stretch. After forcing a pivotal turnover with just over 35 seconds remaining, the Captains set up their final play up by two. Byrd just missed a three-point attempt as the shot clock expired, but junior Anitra Thomas slipped into the lane for a monstrous rebound. After getting fouled, she went to the line and knocked down 1-of-2 for the final score, 61-58. Salisbury had a look from outside with one second remaining, but the desperation shot was short and wide left.

The Captains' leader finished with 33 points on 10-of-19 shooting. She added 10 rebounds, four steals, two assists, and two blocked shots. No other CNU player finished in double figures, though Byrd had a strong night with nine points, four rebounds, and four steals, and Fancher added eight points with three assists.

Salisbury was led by Lauren Rothfeld, with 19 points and 11 rebounds. She also dished four assists, added four blocks and four steals for a full stat sheet. McDonagh finished with 11 assists and eight rebounds, while Paige Bryce and Josephine Noonan had 12 points apiece.

Christopher Newport will next host Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, January 28 at 2:00 pm. The game is part of CNU's Department of Athletics Hall of Fame Day,  as six former Captains, including Schweers, the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history. They will be inducted during halftime of the men's game, which tips at 4:00 pm.