BALTIMORE, Md. -- The top-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team outscored Mitchell College 50-17 in the second half to roll past the Mariners (12-14) in the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship First Round on Friday evening. The Captains improved to 25-0 with an 89-42 win at Goldfarb Gymnasium on the campus of Johns Hopkins University and extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 42 games. 

The Captains' dominant defensive effort held Mitchell to just four made field goals in the second half and 14.8 percent (4-27) from the field. A 30-7 third quarter led to the dominant spread and Christopher Newport extended the lead to as many as 48 in the fourth quarter as all but one of the team's 14 active players wound up in the scoring column. 

At the helm of the balanced attack was sophomore point guard Gabbi San Diego, putting together one of her finest efforts of the season. Playing in just 20 minutes, San Diego scored 13 points and matched her career high with eight assists. She finished 7-for-7 from the free-throw line and knocked down three of five attempts from the field. 

San Diego was one of three Captains in double figures as reserve guard Katy Rader also registered a terrific overall performance. Playing 18 minutes off the bench, Rader scored 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting while adding 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Rounding out the trio of double-figure scorers was leading scorer Sondra Fan. The senior guard from Poquoson, Va. finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting including an impressive 4-for-7 showing from long range. She added five rebounds, a block and a steal. 

As a team, the Captains logged one of the team's best performances on the glass by outrebounding the Mariners, 53-35, including 20 offensive rebounds. All 14 Captains picked up at least one rebound, led by senior Natalie Terwilliger with eight boards. In the dominant second-half, CNU outrebounded Mitchell 33-13. 

CNU was forced to overcome an uncharacteristic shooting performance in the first quarter after hitting just 25 percent (5-20) from the field in the first 10 minutes. The defense forced 11 turnovers with five steals, but could not capitalize on the offensive end of the court. The lull only lasted the first quarter, though, as the Captains righted the ship to a 47.1 percent (8-17) effort in the second period. San Diego led the surge with eight points to push the Captains' lead at the break to 36-25. 

Bursting out of the locker room, Sondra Fan slammed in a pair of three-pointers off feeds from San Diego and then took a hard charge around mid-court to force a Mitchell turnover. Another dime by the rookie PG found Simmons for a jumper in the lane and then her fourth straight to start the second half set up a fast-break triple by Rader. A 13-0 run to open the half concluded on a pair of free-throws by Rader before Amina Wiley knocked down a pair of free-throws to get the Mariners on the board in the second half. The run would extend to 24-2 before Mitchell finally hit it's first field goal of the second half with 2:38 showing on the third quarter clock. 

With the game in hand, head coach Bill Broderick leaned on his bench for the remainder of the action. The reserves scored all 23 fourth-quarter points for the Captains while shooting 47.4 percent (9-19) from the field. Hannah Orloff scored five while Julia Hobbs and Rader each poured in four points apiece. Continuing to spread it around, Alivia Giles and Jovia Winkey each added three in the period while Hannah Kaloi and Lexi White each chipped in a pair. White led another impressive defensive period with three steals while the Captains held Mitchell to just 14.3 percent (2-14) in the final ten minutes of action. 

CNU advances to the NCAA Second Round for the 15th time in 22 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances. The Captains will face the winner of the Johns Hopkins-Mount St. Mary matchup on Saturday, March 5 at 6:00 pm.