No. 1 CNU reaches Elite Eight
The unbeaten, top-ranked Christopher Newport women cleared the hurdle that stopped them last season, getting through the NCAA Division III round of 16 with a 60-51 victory Friday over Wartburg behind Sondra Fan’s 16 points and Hannah Orloff’s eight blocks and 12 rebounds.
The triumph in Tufts’ Cousens Gymnasium in Medford, Massachusetts, advanced coach Bill Broderick’s Captains (29-0) to the Elite Eight. They will meet the winner of Friday’s late contest between Tufts and Trinity of San Antonio — the last two teams to defeat them.
CNU played for the second game in a row without the service of All-American Anaya Simmons, who is out for the year with a knee injury she incurred in the NCAA first round.
The Captains, in the last 16 for the seventh straight year, relied on Fan, their other All-American. Camille Malagar added 12 points and Gabbi San Diego had eight.
Orloff kept the Knights (23-7) from establishing much in the lane.
CNU shot just 37.5% (24 of 64), but thanks in large part to Orloff, held Wartburg to 34.6% (18 of 52). The Knights, one of the nation’s most dangerous 3-point shooting teams, were 8 of 24 from beyond the arc. CNU had just 10 turnovers to Wartburg’s 18.
Wartburg, a Waverly, Iowa, school ranked 24th before the NCAAs began, knocked off No. 7 Hope, the defending champion, last week to reach the Sweet 16.
But CNU didn’t give the Knights much hope, moving ahead 10-2 and finishing the first quarter ahead 21-9. It was 31-11 before Wartburg rallied to occasionally cut the deficit inside 10, but the Knights couldn’t make a serious threat.
NCAA DIVISION II
Glenville State 84, Elizabeth
City State 60: The Vikings (20-11), who gained an automatic NCAA bid by winning the CIAA Tournament, fell to the hosting, top-seeded Pioneers (30-2) in the Division II Atlantic Regional first round in West Virginia.
NyAsia Blango led ECSU with 14 points.
CAA
Monmouth 65, Drexel 59: The seventh-seeded Hawks (16-15), playing their first CAA Tournament, pulled a quarterfinal upset of the second-seeded Dragons (21-9).
Late Thursday CAA
Stony Brook 54, Elon 51: The sixth-seeded Seawolves (18-12) overcame a 41-25 third-quarter deficit to slip past the 11th-seeded Phoenix (9-21) in the CAA Tournament.