ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- Christopher Newport senior Jessica Daguilh registered a career-best performance from the free-throw line and rookie Sondra Fan was 8-for-10 from the field as the Captains (15-5, 6-3) held on to win on the road Wednesday night, 65-55. Christopher Newport downed St. Mary's College of Maryland (5-15, 1-8) in Capital Athletic Conference action as Daguilh scored a game-high 20 points and Fan poured in 18 to lead the way. 

CNU used a strong first half to build a double-digit lead and then held off the Seahawks after the break to bounce back for a conference win on the road. Paired with a loss by first-place Southern Virginia University, the Captains are now just one game back of the Knights in the league standings with a 6-3 record in CAC action. 

Both teams struggled to get the offense moving in the first quarter as the teams combined for just seven points in the first 5:51 of action. A small 7-0 run with three-pointers from Fan and fellow rookie Jessica Foster built the lead to seven where it would hold going into the second stanza. At the end of the first quarter, Fan buried back-to-back fast-break layups to get CNU in front, 13-6.

On the Captains' first possession of the second quarter, Fan stayed hot, burying a three-pointer from the wing to earn the first double-digit lead of the night. Quickly, CNU added two more triples from Kiana Kirkland and Zhara Tannor to take a 13-point lead, 22-9, less than a minute and a half into the second quarter. After the slow start, the Captains offense went on to score 24 points in the second and build a 12-point lead at the break, 37-25. 

Fan led the way with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half while Jessica Daguilh's eight-point second quarter came courtesy of a 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe. CNU shot 50% from the field in the second ten minutes of action led by Tannor and Fan each going 2-for-2. 

Early in the third quarter, St. Mary's cut the lead to nine twice, including on a jumper by Kobe Chaney with 7:34 remaining to make it 39-30. Sophomore Jasmine Norman knocked down a free-throw and Daguilh had a layup off an assist by Fan in the next minute, though, kick-starting another run for the Captains to build the lead to a game-high 17 points with 1:11 remaining. CNU scored 12 of the next 16 points to take a 51-34 advantage late in the htird quarter. 

The home team would not go quietly, though, answering the CNU spurt with a run of their own to cut the lead back to eight with 8:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, 52-44. The Captains held off the comeback attempt with Daguilh and Fan doing most of the damage. Fan scored on back-to-back layups and the senior turned in a three-point play with 6:54 left to make it 59-46. CNU led by just nine with a minute and a half left but the Seahawks elected not to foul and the Captains held on for the ten-point win on the road, 65-55. 

Daguilh scored 20 points in the win with a 10-for-12 effort from the free-throw line. A career-best performance at the charity stripe, Daguilh had never scored more than 7 points from the line and took more than seven attempts for just the second time in her career. Fan's efficient shooting performance (8-10) ranks tied for the 12th best shooting performance in the history of CNU women's basketball and a top-five effort among rookies. She finished with 18 points while also adding 5 steals, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

Chaney led the Seahawks with her finest performance of the year in just her sixth game after returning from injury. The senior had a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Gina Seifert also had a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals. 

CNU returns to action this Saturday, February 2 as they host the University of Mary Washington in CAC action at 2:00 pm. Live stats and video of all the action will be found at CNUsports.com.