CNU Women's Hoops Moves Up to No. 5 in D3hoops.com Poll; Captains Travel to Bridgewater Wednesday
In the first regular season D3hoops.com poll of the season, the Christopher Newport women's basketball team moved up to No. 5 after a 6-0 start and will carry that fresh designation into a mid-week matchup at undefeated Bridgewater College (5-0) on Wednesday night. The Captains are also ranked No. 2 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top 25 and have now held a spot in the top-five nationally for 11 consecutive regular season rankings.
Voters selected Hope as the top-ranked team in the nation, collecting 21 first-place votes and 615 total points. NYU earned three first-place votes and is picked second while Transylvania, with the final first-place vote, and Trinity (Texas) were also picked ahead of the Captains.
CNU has been a dominant force against the schedule faced so far, leading the nation in scoring margin by outpacing opponents on average by over 53 points per game. The Captains have paired the third-ranked scoring offense (91.3 ppg) with the third-ranked scoring defense (37.8 ppg allowed) to race out to a 6-0 start this season. Only Emmanuel (MA) is also ranked in the top-20 in both categories out of the 424 Division III programs.
The Captains are coming off back-to-back defensive showcases, with a 120-23 win over Goucher followed by a 96-28 win against Lynchburg. Both check into the CNU record books as impressive outings as the former matched the record for points in a game and largest margin of victory while the latter was a top-five showing defensively, allowing only seven made field goals and just over 16 percent shooting to the Hornets.
Senior forward Anaya Simmons, the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week, is leading the team with 11.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She has also added 11 steals, seven assists, and two blocks so far this season while shooting 61 percent from the floor. Fifth-year senior Sondra Fan is adding 9.8 points per game and has moved into the top-20 all-time in career scoring for the Captains with 1,133 career points.
The Captains will travel to Bridgewater College to take on the Eagles for the eighth straight season after the series was halted between 1998 and 2014. The Eagles have a slight 13-12 advantage in the series but the Captains have won six straight heading into Wednesday's matchup.
Bridgewater is off to a hot start, winning their first five games behind a solid defense under first-year head coach Stephanie Flamini. The former Guilford guide has returned to the ODAC in 2022-23 and pointed Bridgewater to the finest start for the program since 2010-11 when the Eagles opened 8-0. The team ranks fourth nationally in field-goal percentage defense and seventh in scoring defense. Offensively, Riley Corcoran paces the Eagles with 11.6 points per game while Erika Nettles is averaging 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as well.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available online. For fans attending in person, Bridgewater College tickets may be purchased in advance, digitally, by clicking here. Cash will not be accepted.
Following Wednesday's trip to Bridgewater, the Captains will head to Greensboro College on Saturday, December 3 for a matchup with the Pride. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 pm.
D3hoops.com Top 25 - Week 1 (Through games on Nov. 27)
# | School (No. 1 votes) | W-L | Pts. | Prev. |
1 | Hope (21) | 5-0 | 615 | 1 |
2 | New York University (3) | 5-0 | 582 | 3 |
3 | Transylvania (1) | 4-0 | 573 | 2 |
4 | Trinity (Texas) | 7-0 | 548 | 5 |
5 | Christopher Newport | 6-0 | 528 | 6 |
6 | Smith | 5-0 | 485 | 7 |
7 | Amherst | 3-0 | 455 | 9 |
8 | Scranton | 5-0 | 411 | 10 |
9 | UW-Whitewater | 5-1 | 406 | 4 |
10 | Baldwin Wallace | 5-0 | 399 | 12 |
11 | Tufts | 5-0 | 391 | 11 |
12 | UW-Eau Claire | 6-1 | 328 | 13 |
13 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 2-0 | 289 | 15 |
14 | Ithaca | 4-0 | 269 | 20 |
15 | Calvin | 5-0 | 207 | -- |
16 | Springfield | 5-1 | 202 | 16 |
17 | Babson | 3-0 | 191 | 25 |
18 | Rochester | 5-0 | 187 | -- |
19 | UW-Oshkosh | 6-0 | 179 | 22 |
20 | Trine | 3-2 | 161 | 8 |
21 | Whitman | 5-1 | 132 | 23 |
22 | UC Santa Cruz | 7-0 | 99 | -- |
23 | DeSales | 4-0 | 92 | -- |
24 | Hardin-Simmons | 3-2 | 84 | 18 |
25 | Messiah | 3-1 | 40 | 21 |
Others receiving votes: UW-La Crosse 38; Puget Sound 35; Marietta 32; East Texas Baptist 31; Illinois Wesleyan 26; Trinity (Conn.) 18; Cortland 17; Gustavus Adolphus 14; New Jersey City 13; Millikin 11; St. John Fisher 10; Washington and Jefferson 10; Catholic 5; Chicago 5; Wartburg 3; Augustana 1; Mary Washington 1; Ohio Northern 1; Stevens 1The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.
Original source can be found here