DOVER, Del. -- Three Christopher Newport seniors connected on eight three-pointers, led by a career-high tying five from Makenzie Fancher, as the 10th-ranked Captains improved to 17-2, 11-1 with a 76-56 win at Wesley College on Saturday afternoon. Fancher scored a season-high 19 points to lead the way as the nationally-ranked Captains dropped the Wolverines to 4-15 overall, 2-10 in league action. 

Fancher combined with fellow seniors Anitra Thomas and Devon Byrd to shoot 8-of-12 from beyond the arc at Wentworth Gymnasium in Dover, Delaware on Saturday afternoon. The Captains maintained their spot in second place in the league standings, trailing Marymount University by just one game. 

Playing on the road for the fifth straight weekend, the Captains built an 18-point lead in the first half and kept the home Wolverines at bay in the second half to secure a 20-point win. The wire-to-wire victory was the sixth straight win overall for the Captains and the 14th straight in the series against Wesley College, who will exit the Capital Athletic Conference following this season.

The three-point shot powered the Captains offense all-night, with a 47.1% shooting effort from long range on 8-of-17 shooting. After Bailey Dufrene opened the scoring with a fast-break layup in the first minute of action, Fancher drilled the first of her career-high-tying five triples to give CNU an early 5-0 lead. Then, an old-fashioned three-point play by Thomas would extend the lead to six, 10-4, before three-pointers by Byrd and Fancher assisted in a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

The game plan shifted inside at the start of the second quarter as Jessica Daguilh buried back to back buckets before Micah Maloney earned a trip to the line and knocked down two free-throws. With under five minutes to go in the second quarter, CNU looked back outside where Thomas sandwiched one more Fancher three-pointer with a pair of her own to make it an 18-point game, 39-21. 

Thomas scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half, going 4-for-4 from the field including the two three-pointers. Fancher was also exceptional in the first half, knocking down three triples for nine points. They led a 6-for-13 effort from long range in the first half that helped CNU get out to the big lead. 

In the second half, the Captains built the lead to a game-high 23 just under five minutes into the third quarter when Maloney converted a three-point play to make it 55-32. Wesley managed to start hitting shots from beyond the arc as well, keeping pace with the CNU offense for the remainder of the game. Fancher knocked down back-to-back three-point attempts in the middle of the fourth quarter to extend the lead back to 23 again, 72-49, before the Captains would coast to a 20-point road win, 76-56. 

Fancher, who ranks third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, added five assists and just one giveaway to her game-high 19 points. She also added three steals while shooting 7-of-12 from the floor. Thomas finished with 13 points and a pair of steals in just 11 minutes of action while Maloney notched a 10-point, 6-rebound effort in the win. Daguilh was the team leader on the glass, hauling in eight rebounds to go with her six points. 

Four Wesley starters finished in double figures, including a double-double by Shelby Johnson (10 pts, 11 reb). Monshea Newsome-Murray led the Wolverines with 18 points and seven assists in 39 minutes of play. 

The Captains will stay on the road to wrap up a strenuous January schedule that featured six games away from the Freeman Center. CNU will travel to Salisbury University on Wednesday, January 31 with tip set for 5:30 pm.