HONOLULU, Hawaii -- The ninth-ranked Thomas More College Saints (10-1) handed second-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball it's first loss of the season on Wednesday afternoon in the 2017 Hoop N' Surf Christmas Classic in Hawaii. The Saints scored 50 points in the second half to win the top ten showdown, 86-53, as CNU fell to 8-1 overall on the season.  

The first quarter was back-and-forth as the two teams teetered within two possessions of eachother for the first ten minutes. The Saints took a 19-17 lead headed into the second quarter, where TMC took over to outscore CNU 67-36 the rest of the way.  

Thomas More outscored the Captains, 17-8, in the second quarter to take a 36-25 lead at the intermission. Sophomore Micah Maloney, with seven points and three rebounds, and junior Jessica Daguilh, with six points, were the Captains' leaders in the first half. The CNU defense, averaging 20 steals per game coming into Wednesday's tilt, was held to just three thefts in the first 20 minutes of play. 

Thomas More knocked down four three-pointers and shot nearly 44% in the first half, but caught fire in the second half to finish the game shooting 50% from the field (33-66). A red hot third quarter would put the game out of reach for CNU as the Saints outscored the Captains, 30-13, to take a 66-38 lead with just 10 minutes left to play. 

In the third quarter, senior Sam Porter tried to put the team on her shoulders with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, but the Captains managed just five more points in the frame while Madison Temple (10 points), Emily Schultz (9 points), and Nikki Kiernan (8 points) led a 60% shooting effort in the stanza for Thomas More. CNU was also outrebounded, 15-4, in the quarter. 

The Captains were led by Maloney in the game, as the sophomore forward finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 blocked shot. She was 3-for-5 from the floor, a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line and knocked down a pair of three-pointers. Porter's eight third-quarter points would see her finish second in the scoring column for the Captains, while Daguilh and rookie Jasmine Norman each finished with six. 

The tough CNU defense notched 10 steals in the game, with three from Zhara Tannor and three from Jasmine Bonivel. Bonivel also led the team in rebounding, with six.  

The Captains will return to action on Thursday, facing Willamette University out of Oregon in the final day of the Hoop N' Surf Classic. Tip will be 11:00 am locally, 4:00 pm on the East Coast.