ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- In an impressive display of rebounding dominance, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team cruised to it's seventh straight win to open the season with a 73-42 road victory at St. Mary's College of Maryland on Wednesday night. The Captains (7-0, 3-0) outrebounded the Seahawks 58-33 including 31 offensive boards while dropping the home team to 2-4 overall, 0-3 in league play. 

CNU held a decisive edge on the glass throughout the contest, including a dominating performance in the first half, outrebounding the Seahawks 29-14 overall with a 16-0 edge in offensive rebounds. Junior guard Zhara Tannor led the effort with six first half rebounds while Jessica Daguilh and Sam Porter each hauled in four apiece.

The sweltering defensive pressure was on display again for the Captains as St. Mary's (Md.) turned the ball over 33 times with 18 steals for the Captains in the game. Three different CNU players registered three steals to lead the way as rookie Bailey Hodges, sophomore Kiana Kirkland, and senior Makenzie Fancher led a team effort that saw 10 different players pick up at least one theft. St. Mary's was held to just 25.5% (12-47) shooting in the game, while the CNU defense managed to hold the Seahawks to single digits in two separate quarters. 

The Captains raced out to a big lead in the wire-to-wire victory, outscoring the home team 31-7 in the first 13:25 of action. A 22-7 advantage in the first quarter featured five different players in the scoring column. Porter and Tannor each had five while Kirkland, Daguilh, and Madison Howdyshell each added four points. 

After closing the first quarter on a 14-2 run, the Captains continued to add to that spurt with the first nine points of the second quarter to cap a 23-2 roll that built the big 24-point lead. The lead would grow to 27 at halftime, 47-20, with Kirkland pouring in six more points for a team-high 10 in the first half. 

The third quarter was one of the best defensive efforts of the season for CNU, holding St. Mary's to just 1-for-11 shooting (9.1%) from the floor. The Seahawks managed just five points in the frame while the Captains picked up nine more points on its advantage to take a game-high 37-point edge, 61-24 with 1:11 remaining in the frame. 

Kyaira Priest headlined the fourth quarter for the Seahawks, knocking down three triples to finish with a team-high 10 points.

The Captains managed to get all 17 players into the game with 13 getting into the scoring column. Daguilh ended the game with a team-high 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting while adding seven rebounds. Kirkland's 10 points and five rebounds was the only other double-figure scoring performance in the balanced effort, as five more Captains finished with five or more points. Tannor wrapped up another stellar overall performance with nine points, seven rebounds, and two steals while finishing 4-for-6 from the field. 

The CNU bench scored 53 points and the Captains dominated the paint with a 46-6 advantage in scoring close to the basket. The rebounding advantage also led to 21 second-chance points for the Captains in the win. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Sunday, December 10 as they host Wesley College at 2:00 pm.