HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Taking on the hosts of the Stevens Holiday Classic just 18 hours after suffering the team's first regular season defeat in four years, the third-ranked Christopher Newport women's basketball team bounced back with a resounding road victory to set the NCAA Division III record for consecutive wins as the away team with a 77-61 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Captains improved to 13-1 overall with the team's 37th straight triumph coming out of the visiting locker room. 

Christopher Newport saw four players lead the way in double figures including near double-doubles for both Camille Malagar and Hannah Kaloi. Malagar scored a team-high 16 points and led the Captains' defensive efforts with a career-high eight steals; Kaloi poured in 15 points and added eight rebounds for CNU. Rounding out the double-figure scoring performances on Saturday were 14 points from Nicole Timko, featuring four made three-pointers, and 14 points by Katy Rader including a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. 

Defensively, the Captains' continued to hassle their opponent and forced 28 turnovers against the host Ducks (5-6). CNU scored 36 points off of Stevens turnovers including 16 fast-break points. 

The matchup was closely contested throughout the first half as Stevens hung in with the nationally-ranked Captains. The Ducks took a seven-point lead in the second quarter before Christopher Newport closed out the half on a 10-3 run to take a one-point lead into the intermission, 29-28. 

Much of the third quarter was back-and-forth again as Stevens teetered in front, 39-38, with 4:09 showing on the clock, but Christopher Newport rallied and stole the momentum heading into the fourth quarter up by six points, 49-43. The advantage was the largest at the time for CNU, whose defense held the home team to just a single made field-goal in the final five minutes of the period. 

Early three-pointers in the fourth quarter got the lead out to double figures for the first time in the game as Nicole Timko and Katy Rader each buried triples around a traditional three-point play by Hannah Kaloi to give CNU a 64-54 lead with five minutes left. CNU also had great success at the free-throw line where they were able to extend the lead, hitting their final 13 of the game including an 11-for-11 showing in the final ten minutes. 

With the lead in hand, CNU went on a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Ducks. Malagar had a steal and a run-out on a fast-break layup and then finished another jumper in the lane minutes later. Rookie Caitlin Crump hit the final shot from the field when she buried a shot from the perimeter and Mia Wilson closed out the win with a pair of makes from the charity stripe. 

In the game, Christopher Newport overcame a cold start shooting in the first half with a torried final frame, knocking down over 58 percent of their shots. CNU finished 38.3 percent from the field (23-60) including nine three-pointers and adding a dominant 22-for-24 effort from the free-throw line (.917). 

Malagar finished 6-of-9 from the field with a pair of three-pointers to lead the way. Kaloi was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line to round out another solid overall performance while Timko's four triples led the field while CNU held Stevens to just two makes from beyond the arc on 18 attempts (11.1 percent). 

Leyla Castro scored a game-high 17 points for Stevens while Kay Decker added 15 points and 13 rebounds, but the Captains held the Ducks in check defensively as Stevens shot just 34.5 percent from the field (20-58). 

Christopher Newport closes out the 2023 calendar year with a win and will now travel down the road in New Jersey to face Rowan University on January 3 at 2:00 p.m. The game will conclude an eight-game road trip as CNU will finally return home to the Freeman Center on Friday, January 5 against Cheyney University of Pennsylvania with a 3:00 p.m. tip.