HANCOCK, Mich. -- Led by 18 points from junior forward Anaya Simmons, the top-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team rolled to a 90-67 victory on the road Sunday afternoon, downing Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference foe Finlandia University. The Captains (18-0) utilized a 16-2 run in the second quarter to pull away from the Lions in the first half on route to the team's 36th consecutive victory. 

Simmons led a group of four double-digit scorers for Christopher Newport as the Captains shot 50% from the field at the Paavo Nurmi Center in Hancock, Michigan. Finlandia dropped to 10-8 on the season with the setback after CNU held the Lions to just 24.1% shooting in the first half. 

After Finlandia knocked down the first bucket of the game, the Captains answered with an 8-2 run to take the lead. The home team drew even at 12, but CNU senior Jessica Foster scored five straight points to trigger a 9-1 run and CNU would not trail again in the game. Foster hit the first of her three triples between a lay-in and a fast-break bucket by Sondra Fan as the Captains scored seven unanswered points in a 36-second span. 

CNU led, 24-19, after the first ten minutes and continued to extend the lead early in the second quarter. Simmons sank a tough layup and quickly stole the inbounds pass and kicked out to Foster for her second trey as the Captains took the first double-digit lead of the game at 29-19 just 31 seconds into the stanza. After Katie Lundeen had back-to-back layups for Finlandia, Christopher Newport went on the big 16-2 spurt to take a 20-point lead. Simmons was the hot hand, scoring ten points in the second quarter including eight in the roll. Rookie Hannah Kaloi added a traditional three-point play followed by a long three-pointer from Foster. 

Defense led to points for the Captains as steals by Simmons and Fan helped turn an eight-point lead into 20 in a span of under two minutes of action. Jovia Winkey scored on the fast break and Simmons finished off an assist by Fan to wrap up the burst. The lead would grow to as many as 22 in the first half before Christopher Newport took a 49-29 lead into the locker room. 

Free-throw shooting managed to keep Finlandia even that close as the host Lions were 14-15 from the line in the first half while the Captains took just two free-throws in the first 20 minutes of action. CNU took advantage of Finlandia turnovers, scoring 21 first-half points off of 15 turnovers by the Lions. 

Through the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Captains continued to add to their big advantage and led by as many as 35 with 4:55 remaining in the game. A three-pointer from senior Phylicia McInnis made the score 83-48 and the senior guard added another minutes later for an 88-54 advantage. Finlandia scored 13 of the final 15 points for the final margin, 90-67. 

Simmons' 18-point performance came with another extremely efficient performance from the field. Ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage, Simmons improved that mark by knocking down 9 of her 12 shots from the field. Simmons added a team-high five steals and six rebounds to wrap up a strong overall performance. Foster also finished in double figures with 11 points, all in the first half, while Fan and Kaloi each had 10. 

CNU rebounded well as a team with senior Julia Ng joining Simmons with a team-high six and 11 different players grabbing at least two. CNU also had 20 assists on 37 made baskets with eight players picking up at least one assist. McInnis paired a team-best five dimes with her six points while playing a team-high 22 minutes. The team also swatted eight shots, led by two blocks apiece from Natalie Terwilliger, Fan, and Ng. 

As a team, the Captains shot 50% (37-74) from the field including a 42.9% (9-21) mark from long range. The CNU defense forced 25 Finlandia turnovers and scored 29 points off of giveaways. The Lions shot just 36.4% against CNU including just two three-pointers in ten attempts. 

Christopher Newport will play two more games away from home before closing out the regular season at home on February 19. Next weekend, the Captains will face UC Santa Cruz (12-2) and Pratt Institute (5-10) at Mary Washington for the C2C Classic. CNU takes on the Banana Slugs first on Saturday, February 12 at 3:00 pm.