Women's wrap: Tale of two halves

More news about: Christopher Newport | Mary Washington
Feb 10, 2016
Sam Porter scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first of Christopher Newport's win over Mary Washington.
 Christopher Newport athletics file photo

No. 18 Christopher Newport defeated No. 23 Mary Washington 59-53 in a game where each team dominated the other for one half.

Christopher Newport (20-2, 13-2 CAC) jumped out to a 23-6 lead at the end of one quarter and held Mary Washington (18-4, 12-3) to two points in the second quarter, giving the Captains a 42-8 lead at the half.

In the second half the teams reversed roles with the Eagles outscoring Christopher Newport 45-17. Putting the two disparate halves together, Christopher Newport shot a higher percentage from three and outrebounded the Eagles by five. 

Sam Porter posted a double-double for Christopher Newport while Brianne Comden led the Eagles with 19 points.

Sixteen other nationally ranked teams played on Wednesday night and they all won. 

On Wednesday afternoon the NCAA released its first set of regional rankings that provide insight into how a team stacks up against others in its own region for potential NCAA tournament at-large bids and hosting opportunities.

Here are the most significant scores from Wednesday night involving regionally ranked teams.

Atlantic: No. 3 Montclair State def. No. 2 Rowan 71-70
Atlantic: No. 8 Manhattanville def. No. 7 FDU-Florham 66-59
Mid-Atlantic: No. 6 CNU def. No. 7 Mary Washington 59-53
West: Bethel def. No. 3 St. Mary's (Minn.) 77-74 

Sarah Payonk notched her second triple-double of the season and Scranton defeated Susquehanna 66-44 to improve to 22-0 and secure the top seed in the Landmark Conference playoffs. No. 16 Muhlenberg cruised past Haverford 62-35 to give Ron Rohn his 300th career victory. No. 23 University of New England secured the top spot in the CCC playoffs by beating Endicott 62-54.

The more interesting results occurred outside the Top 25. Katie Sire's layup with five seconds left gave Montclair State a 71-70 win at Rowan and a regular season split with the Profs. It also created a three-way tie for first between the Red Hawks, the Profs and Stockton, which handled New Jersey City 85-45. Montclair hosts Stockton next Wednesday night in the teams' regular season finale.

Babson topped WPI 62-51, snapping the Engineers' 18-game winning streak and giving the Beavers a leg up in the NEWMAC race. Babson now has the tie-breaker advantage since the teams only play each other once in the regular season. Despite a 20-1 record entering the week, WPI was ranked just 11th in the first regional rankings released Wednesday afternoon.