HOBOKEN, N.J. -- It has been exactly four years to the day that the third-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team suffered their last regular season loss and on Friday night on the very same floor, CNU dropped a 73-69 decision to SUNY New Paltz (6-2), snapping a string of 71 consecutive regular season wins by the Captains (12-1) dating back to the 2019 calendar year. Playing in the Stevens Holiday Classic, the Captains erased a second-half deficit and led by three with a minute and a half to play, but New Paltz finished on a 7-0 run to close out the upset victory. 

Christopher Newport suffered just it's third loss in the last 89 games dating back to December 29, 2019 when CNU fell to then-No. 1 Tufts University, 70-65, at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, New Jersey. After that loss, CNU put together a program-record 43-game winning streak before falling in the 2022 NCAA Round of 16, and a 31-game roll last season before finishing out the year in the national championship game. 

CNU was out to a 12-0 start this season, improving to 86-2 in that stretch, before Friday night's defeat to New Paltz. 

The game was a back-and-forth battle featuring two very strong defensive teams that forced a combined 48 turnovers with 31 steals in the game. The Captains trailed at the half for the first time this season, 37-36, and New Paltz built a lead to as many as eight points in the third quarter before Christopher Newport mounted a thrilling comeback in the fourth quarter. 

The Captains endured a mighty drought to start the third quarter, but their team defense managed to keep New Paltz at bay as well as both teams struggled from the field. After opening the period 0-for the first 12 attempts from the floor, the Captains still held on, trailing the Hawks by just four, 44-40, before Gabbi San Diego connected on the first field goal of the second half.
 
The short jumper in the lane triggered a 7-0 run for the Captains as Hannah Kaloi found Alivia Giles on the run for an open bucket and then Kaloi buried a corner trey to give the Captains the lead, 47-44. SUNY New Paltz rebounded quickly, however, outscoring Christopher Newport the rest of the period, 13-4, to take a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, 57-51.
 
Hailey Kellogg got the Captains on the board early in the fourth, avoiding another slow start with a runner off the glass to cut the lead to four, 57-53. After New Paltz extended back to seven with a three-pointer, San Diego charged up the floor to convert another tough layup in the lane for the response, making the score 60-55. After another Hawks miss, Camille Malagar went coast-to-coast to trim the lead to a single possession, 60-57, with a nice layup on the run.
 
With 7:45 left in regulation, CNU got another steal as Katy Rader reached into a passing lane for the steal. CNU couldn't convert on the offensive end off the takeaway, though, and SUNY New Paltz got a triple to double the lead with 7:17 left, 63-57.
 
After a timeout, Rader knocked down a jumper from the elbow and Alexia Lindsey made an incredible defensive play with an open court interception to set up another offensive possession. As CNU missed the first try, Lindsey also collected an offensive rebound and finished the second-chance layup to get CNU back within two again, 63-61. After several empty possessions on both sides, it was the veteran connection of San Diego to Rader that tied the game up at 63-all, capping a 6-0 run that spanned over three minutes in the fourth quarter. San Diego drove into the paint, drew a second defender and made a pinpoint bounce pass to Rader for the easy lay-in and the dime.
 
San Diego had an exceptional game passing, picking up her sixth assist with that pass and the veteran floor general would finish with seven dimes. On the other end, New Paltz turned to their All-American, Brianna Fitzgerald, to teeter back in front as she hit a long jumper, but Kellogg quickly answered with a layup with just over three minutes left.
 
Kaloi, who had been the offensive leader for CNU all game, made a huge defensive play as SUNY New Paltz looked inside on their next possession. Kaloi blocked the Hawks shot and then was fouled on the other end to earn a trip to the free-throw line. The junior forward sank both to give the Captains the lead again, 67-65, heading into the final two minutes of action.
 
After New Paltz went 1-of-2 from the line, it was a carbon copy play from San Diego to Rader to extend the lead back to three for CNU. The layup by Rader gave the Captains a 69-66 lead with just over 90 seconds remaining.

From there, it was all New Paltz as the Hawks answered with a long three-pointer by Fitzgerald to tie the game. CNU turned the ball over and Fitzgerald went to the line on the other end with 38.2 seconds showing on the clock; she went 1-for-2 and the Captains trailed by one, 70-69, as head coach Bill Broderick called a timeout.
 
Out of the break, CNU could not get a shot off as the Hawks earned a steal and CNU was forced to foul. New Paltz missed one of two at the line and once again the Captains had a chance out of a timeout to tie or take the lead with 28.5 seconds showing. The play went into Kaloi, but her turnaround jumper in the lane was no good and CNU was forced to foul. For a third straight possession, the Captains had new life as only seven seconds went off the clock and New Paltz missed both free throws giving CNU another chance to tie.
 
Unfortunately for Captains' fans, there was a possession tie up with 7.1 seconds remaining and on the restart, CNU could not get the shot to fall before another jump ball favored SUNY New Paltz with 2.0 seconds left. The Hawks closed out the win with a pair from the line and earned the final margin, 73-69. 
 
 On the defensive side of the ball, Christopher Newport had an exceptional performance as a team headlined by five steals from Alexia Lindsey. She added eight points and five rebounds for a well-rounded performance off the bench. Hannah Kaloi just missed a double-double with 21 points and nine rebounds while adding two assists, two blocks and two steals. Also finishing in double figures was Rader, scoring 11 points with three rebounds. 

San Diego put together a strong showing in 25 minutes as well for CNU, dishing a game-high seven assists to go with six points and four boards. 

Fitzgerald closed out a strong overall showing for New Paltz with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals. Jenny Walton also had 21 points in the game for the Hawks. 

Christopher Newport returns to action on Saturday as the Captains will take on the host Stevens Ducks at 3:00 p.m. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.