FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The second-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team improved to 15-0 with the team's seventh win by 50-points or more this season as the Captains cruised by Methodist University (7-7) on the road, 89-39. With the victory, Christopher Newport became just the ninth Division III program in NCAA history to reach 850 program wins, securing the milestone win in the program's 49th season of women's basketball. 

 The dominant victory featured another standout performance sharing the basketball with 26 assists on 34 made baskets in the game while all but one CNU player got into the scoring column in the game. Senior guard Sondra Fan led the way with 14 points while senior Natalie Terwilliger added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Sophomore Alivia Giles also finished in double figures with 10 points off the bench to lead a reserve unit that scored 49 total points in the game. 

After an early back-and-forth in the first quarter, the Christopher Newport offense attacked the Monarchs with a 20-0 run to open up a huge lead less than ten minutes into the game. Katy Rader was the sparkplug to the early spurt, burying a triple out of the first quarter media timeout and then quickly grabbing a steal on the other end. She then set up back-to-back triples for senior Jessica Foster to give the Captains a 15-8 lead. 

Julia Hobbs then finished on back-to-back possessions down low before the Captains called in the starters to wrap up the first quarter blitz. Gabbi San Diego drew in a second defender before dumping off a beautiful assist to Natalie Terwilliger for a layup and two possessions later the senior cleaned up the offensive glass with a stickback. Finishing up the 20-0 roll was a three-pointer from Fan off another assist by San Diego to give the Captains a 26-8 advantage. 

The first-half lead would grow to as many as 30 points on an Alivia Giles layup with less than a minute to go in the second quarter before the home team hit a pair of free-throws to salvage just a 28-point deficit at the break. Christopher Newport led, 49-21, and shot a torrid 57.6% (19-33) from the field in the opening half. 

Rader continued to lead the way after the break, pouring in two more three-pointers in the third quarter. Fan caught fire, shooting 4-of-5 in the third period for a team-best eight points while also dishing a pair of dimes and grabbing one steal. The Captains put 28 more points on the board in the third quarter to pull away from the Monarchs, taking a 44-point lead at 77-33. 

The defense continued to clamp down, putting up it's best performance in the final quarter by holding Methodist to just six points while allowing only seven shots. In the game, CNU held the Monarchs to just 32.6% shooting (15-46) with only 39 points surrendered. It is the third time this season the Captains have held an opponent to 40 points or less in a game. 

Christopher Newport's 15-game win streak to open the season extends a program-record winning streak overall to 32 games. The Captains will return to action this Saturday, January 22 as they travel to Salisbury University (12-3) at 2:00 pm. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available.