HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's basketball team (3-3) faced a tough test against the third-ranked Christopher Newport Captains (8-0) on Saturday afternoon, falling by a 74-44 final inside Gooding Arena.
Haverford stayed competitive with the Captains in the early goings, taking a 2-1 lead on a jumper from Abby Ryan and eventually securing 5-4 and 6-5 leads behind buckets from Gia Flamini and Siena Emuobor. Alivia Giles put the visitors up by three with 4:26 left in the first frame, but the Captains closed the first on a 14-0 run, pulling to a 19-6 lead. Haverford struggled on the offensive end as Christopher Newport added a sizable cushion in the last five minutes and change of the first.
The run extended to 17-0 following a McKenna Snively layup, but Abby Ryan converted a three-point play to end the streak. Audrey Jakway made a pair of free throws, and the Fords seemed to settle into the contest, finding crafty ways to evade the full-court swarm of the Captains with purposeful passing and solid looks at the basket.
Erin Albright hit a deep shot to trim the lead to 12 with 5:24 to go, and later connected from distance yet again, this time with 4:02 to play as the Fords were back within 11. Giles and Jakway traded buckets before a 5-0 Captains run put the visitors up 35-19 at the intermission.
A 10-2 run out of the halftime gates gave CNU some breathing room, but Brianna Feifer knocked down a three-pointer with 4:48 left in the stanza, and later notched a layup off a Shae Mercer steal as the Fords were back within 19. Flamini then connected from deep, and Summer Ryan made a clutch jumper to put the Fords within 16 with under two minutes remaining in the period. Mercer added a pair from the free-throw line, and Flamini connected on a shot as Haverford added a game-high 18 points in the period.
Elizabeth Creed and Mia Wilson then each connected from distance to spark a 12-0 run that put things out of reach for the Fords. Jakway added a three with 7:27 remaining, but another 11-4 Captains run closed out the contest.
The victory marked a milestone for the visitors, as Christopher Newport is now one of nine programs in Division III history to reach 900 wins.
In a balanced scoring effort, Giles poured in 14 points while Mia Wilson added 11. Nicole Timko grabbed eight rebounds to pace the Captains. Flamini had 11 points to lead Haverford, while Emuobor tallied four blocks. Abby Ryan again had a solid performance in the post, with seven points and nine rebounds. Jakway contributed seven points and five rebounds off the bench for Haverford.
Christopher Newport held a slight 41-38 edge in rebounds, but staked its advantage thanks to a 46 percent shooting percentage and a 42-14 edge in points in the paint.
The Fords now return to action on Wednesday night, heading to Allentown for a 6 p.m. tip-off against the Mules of Muhlenberg. The contest will precede the men's contest against the Mules at approximately 8 p.m. inside Memorial Hall.