SALISBURY, Md. – A furious fourth quarter comeback fell short for the Salisbury University women's basketball team, who drew the short end against the second-ranked Christopher Newport Captains, 63-57, in Saturday afternoon's Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) matchup at Maggs PAC.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Captains opened with back-to-back layups from Natalie Terwilliger. Kylie Webb answered for the Sea Gulls with a layup, then Lauren Fortescue drilled a three-pointer to give SU a 5-4 advantage at the 7:32 mark of the first quarter.
• After trading a bucket each, CNU went on a 7-0 run and held SU off the scoreboard for over four minutes, taking a 13-7 lead on a Sondra Fan layup at the 3:36 mark. Jada Welbon broke up the drought with a three, but after each team converted a field goal the Captains got another layup from Fan and a pair of free throws from Terwilliger to go up 19-12 at the end of the first.
• Jovia Winkey opened the second quarter with a layup to extend the CNU cushion to 21-12. Trailing 27-16 at the 5:49 mark, Welbon nailed a jumper, then after an Anaya Simmons layup, Hailey Ader and Fortescue sank back-to-back field goals, getting Salisbury back within 29-22 and forcing a Captain timeout with 4:42 until halftime.
• The Captains regrouped and blanked SU for the remainder of the quarter. Simmons, Fan and Gabbi San Diego each hit buckets, and CNU took a 35-22 lead into the break with 6-0 closing run.
• Simmons opened the third quarter with a layup to balloon the Captains lead to 38-22. The teams went back-and-forth through the rest of the period, with neither side able to string together more than two baskets in a row. Salisbury never got closer than 10 points in the third and entered the final 10 minutes down 49-33.
• Webb and Welbon converted back-to-back layups to start the fourth quarter, getting SU back within 49-37. CNU answered with five of the next six points, rebuilding the lead to 54-38 on a Phylicia McInnis triple. Webb immediately answered with a trey of her own, though, not letting the Sea Gulls fall off the pace.
• Down 55-43 at the 5:38 mark, Webb found Welbon for an easy jumper. After Fortescue hit 1-of-2 at the stripe, Webb launched a straightaway three that clanged straight up off the iron and in, trimming CNU's advantage to 55-49 with 3:30 to go.
• Welbon went 6-for-6 from the free throw line over the next minute-and-a-half, keeping Salisbury within 59-55 with 1:23 to go. After Fan missed a jumper for CNU, the Sea Gulls had a chance to get within one possession, but Otlowski missed a jumper and Winkey hauled in the rebound for the Captains.
• After three straight SU fouls to activate the CNU bonus, Winkey made one free throw but Fan stepped into the lane before the second, and the Captains only led 60-55 with 28 seconds left. The Sea Gulls missed a pair of layups on their next possession and Julia Ng came down with the CNU rebound.
• Ng missed both her ensuing free throws, but Salisbury missed its third straight layup as Ader misfired underneath the basket. Simmons hit one of a pair from the charity stripe at the other end to make it 61-55 with 13 seconds to go, then after Ader converted a layup Fan salted it away with two more from the line, allowing CNU to hold on for the 63-57 decision.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Jada Welbon netted a career-high 17 points to lead the Sea Gulls offensively. Welbon shot 4-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. She also dished out five assists.
• Kylie Webb chipped in 14 points (5-of-7), going 2-of-4 from long range, and notched four rebounds and four assists.
• Hailey Ader and Lauren Fortescue each went for seven points, while Emily Dilger added six off the bench.
• Kaylee Otlowski shot just 1-of-11 from the floor and finished with two points but hauled in 16 rebounds, including four on the offensive end, and swatted three shots.
• The Sea Gulls shot 33.3 percent (20-of-60) for the game, going 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from three-point range, and went 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) from the line.
• Salisbury outrebounded the Captains 43-37, including 17-9 off the offensive glass.
• The Sea Gulls turned it over 19 times, finishing minus-four in that category. SU managed just five steals on the day.
• The game was the first of the season for SU against a C2C foe. The Sea Gulls will close the regular season at CNU on Feb. 19 and in between play a pair of games against Mary Washington on Feb. 5 and 16.

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT GAME NOTES

• Anaya Simmons posted a double-double to lead the Captains, scoring 17 points (6-of-13) with 11 rebounds, plus three steals.
• Sondra Fan contributed 14 points (5-of-10), five rebounds and three steals.
• Natalie Terwilliger scored all 11 of her points in the first half to go along with eight boards and three blocks.
• The Captains connected on 45.5 percent (25-of-55) of their shots but went just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from deep and 11-of-20 (55 percent) from the charity stripe.
• CNU managed 10 steals on Salisbury's 19 turnovers and blocked five SU shots.
• The Captains extended their program-record winning streak to 33 games since the 2019-20 season. CNU has now won 10 straight regular season games against the Sea Gulls dating back to Feb. 3, 2016.

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls are back in action on Wednesday as they visit Neumann.
• Tipoff from Aston, Pa., is slated for 7 p.m.

Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.

To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.