Women's Basketball Falls To Benedictine (KS), 76-69, Rowland Sinks 1,000th Career Point

HONOLULU, HI - Christopher Newport's women's basketball team dropped a 76-69 decision to Benedictine (KS) at the Hoop N Surf Classic Sunday afternoon as senior Nikki Rowland poured in her 1,000th career point.

Rowland, who scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half, now has 1,003 points in her career. She played her first two seasons at Marymount where she totaled 519 points. As a Lady Captains, she has scored 484 points.

The two teams combined to miss their first 13 shots to begin the game. CNU missed its first seven shots and finally connected with 17:02 left in the opening stanza on Samantha Davis' bucket. Benedictine missed its first six shots and finally got on the scoreboard with 15:25 left in the first half.

The Lady Captains led by as many as six in the first half, 19-13, with 4:58 remaining. The Ravens would close the half on a 15-8 run to lead 28-27 at the break.

Neither team shot exceptionally well. CNU finished 11-of-30 (37%) from the field, 0-of-2 from long range and 5-of-6 (83%) from the line. Benedictine finished the half just 8-of-26 (31%) from the floor. The difference for the Ravens was that they connected on 4-of-11 (36%) three-pointers and hit 8-of-14 (57%) free throws.

Both teams stepped up their shooting in the second half, but CNU could not get the stops on defense they needed to climb back into the game. The Ravens led by as many as 11, 59-48, with 7:38 left in the game. The closest the Lady Captains would get down the stretch would be seven several times, including the final margin.

CNU was 16-of-35 (46%) from the floor in the second half, 3-of-8 (38%) from behind the arc and 7-of-12 (58%) from the stripe. Benedictine was 15-of-30 (50%) from the field, 3-of-8 from long range and 15-of-24 (63%) from the free throw line.

For the game, Christopher Newport finished 27-of-65 (42%) from the floor, 3-of-10 from beyond the arc and 12-of-18 (67%) from the charity stripe. The Ravens were 23-of-56 (41%) from the field, 7-of-19 (37%) from long range and 23-of-38 (61%) from the line.

Benedictine was led by Abby Winder's 19 points and 12 rebounds. Nicole Reilly contributed 16 points, Angeline Finzazzo added 14 points off the bench and was 4-of-9 from downtown. Courtney Edmonds contributed 13 points and six boards.

The Lady Captains were led by Nikki Rowland who scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half. She was 3-of-4 from behind the arc and added six rebounds. Samantha Davis and Dee Luck each had 10 points. Alicia Bessey, playing in her first game all season, finished with 10 points off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting. Candace Bryant finished with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Benedictine improves to 9-4 on the year while CNU falls to 4-3. Christopher Newport returns to action Monday as they take on No. 22 Lake Forest (IL) at 5 pm.

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