NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- For the third time in four years, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team reigns supreme in the Capital Athletic Conference after capturing the 2020 Women's Basketball Championship at the Freeman Center on Saturday evening, 86-66, over York College of Pennsylvania (17-11). The Captains (23-4) completed a perfect run through conference play in the regular season and tournament in 2019-20 and won the program's 13th all-time conference title. 

With the third CAC Championship since joining the league in 2013-14, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team will represent the CAC in the 2020 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship earning the league's automatic berth. It will be the 21st NCAA appearance in program history including the seventh in eight seasons under head coach Bill Broderick.

The win came after Christopher Newport had a blistering start to each half in front of a large home crowd in the team's fourth consecutive CAC Tournament. The Captains hit eight of their first 11 shots in the game and raced out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter, 22-9, to start the game. In the second half, another 24-9 burst out of the locker room put away the Spartans behind a red-hot third-quarter by Anaya Simmons, who was 5-for-6 with 14 points in the frame including a pair of back-breaking and-one calls. 

Simmons was named to the All-Tournament team alongside junior Bailey Hodges and tournament MVP Sondra Fan. Fan scored 16 in the win and becomes the first CAC Tournament MVP in league history and the first Captain to earn the honor since Tia Perry in 2013. Simmons scored 26 points, a Christopher Newport record for CAC Tournament action, on an impressive 9-of-12 shooting performance while adding a perfect 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line. The rest of the All-Tournament team was Kayla Ferris and Molly Day from York (Pa.), Tory Martin from Mary Washington, and Kaylee Otlowski for Salisbury. 

The Captains never trailed in the championship matchup, starting 5-for-6 from the floor with three straight three-pointers from Phylicia McInnis, Natalie Terwilliger, and Hodges. A York timeout led to a bucket to stymie the run for a moment, but Christopher Newport never let off the gas as Jessica Foster also added a triple and Fan scored six points in the early run. 

In the second quarter, the Captains and Spartans matched eachother shot for shot with a late three from McInnis giving the Captains a three-point edge in the stanza. Christopher Newport carried an 11-point edge into the intermission, 43-32, after shooting 45.2% (14-31) from the field including a 60% (6-10) mark from beyond the arc. 

While the game remained in reach at halftime, the home team pulled away in the dominant third quarter. Led by Simmons' heroics, Christopher Newport shot a scorching 60% from the field (9-15) including missing just two attempts from inside three-point land. The final five minutes of the third quarter was owned by the CNU rookie, doing everything on both sides of the floor. After checking in with six minutes remaining, her burst started with a rebound on both ends of the floor. She hit a pair of free-throws and then took control in the flow of the offense. First, Fan hit her for an open layup on the back side and then on the next possession, Fan again found her loose on the right side. Simmons elevated through contact and knocked in a tough layup high off the glass. She converted the first of two three-point plays in the period and gave the Captains a 19-point lead, 60-41. On the next run down the floor, Simmons rejected a York shot and forced a Spartans turnover; she then converted her second traditional three-point play with a third consecutive finish off a feed by Fan. Capping her tremendous run in the third quarter, Simmons read the passing lane on the Spartans press break, intercepted the ball and raced straight to the basket for two. 

With the CAC Rookie of the Year taking charge, the Captains built a 26-point advantage, 67-41, with under two minutes left to play in the third quarter. The comfortable lead was plenty for the deep Christopher Newport rotation to hang on for the win in the fourth, despite allowing a valiant comeback bid by the Spartans in the opening stages of the final frame. The Spartans caught fire from deep and cut the lead to just 12, 74-62, in the final quarter, but Simmons answered with a layup out of a timeout and grabbed another key offensive rebound with less than three minutes to go. She was fouled and hit her free-throws to build the lead back to 16 with 2:48 showing. From there, the home team coasted to the 20-point championship win, 86-66. 

Simmons' 26 points was a new career-high and obliterated the team record for individual field goal percentage in a CAC Tournament game. She has now knocked down 56.8% of her shots this season, the highest mark since Colandra Rollins set the school record in 2007-08 with a .607 percentage. Simmons' season currently stands third all-time in program history. the 20-point showing was her second in three games and the third of the season for the Williamsburg, Va. native. She also added a game-high eight rebounds, one assist, steal, and block in just 20 minutes of action. 

The Christopher Newport offense shot a season-high 49.1% from the field (27-55) while also matching the second-best effort from three-point land with a 41.2% showing (7-17). Simmons (8-8) and Fan (9-10) led a tremendous shooting performance from the free-throw line as the Captains converted 25-of-29 attempts from the charity stripe.

As a team, it was the 21st consecutive win in the Freeman Center which ranks as the fourth longest active home winning streak in the nation. The Captains have won 15 straight overall this season and 19 of their last 20 with the only loss coming by just five points to the No. 1 team in the nation, Tufts University. 

Christopher Newport will now look forward to the NCAA Selection Show at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 2 available live on NCAA.com to learn it's first-round location and opponent. The full bracket will be announced during the show.