BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater College women's basketball team capped off a busy day in BC athletics as it took down No. 20 CNU 71-65 behind a strong second half on Saturday night.

The Basics
Score: (RV) Bridgewater 71, Christopher Newport 65
Records: (RV) Bridgewater 2-0, No. 20 Christopher Newport 1-1

How It Happened

• Bridgewater opened the game with a make from Aylin Humpherys and Jay Garcia followed with a three-pointer to take a 5-0 advantage. CNU responded quickly with five straight points of their own, but BC followed with a 6-2 scoring run fueled by four points from Riley Corcoran to take an 11-7 lead. Five more points from Corcoran pushed the advantage out to 16-9, but the Captains went on a 9-2 run over the final 3:07 of the opening stanza to tie the contest at 18-18 after the opening period. 
• CNU continued its run to open the second quarter with six-straight points to open the frame. A score by Anna-Faith Brunk ended the Captains' 15-2 scoring run, and the rookie did not stop there. Brunk accounted for nine-straight points for BC as she alone tallied a 9-2 scoring run to take the lead back at 27-26. A second-chance bucket for CNU allowed the visitors to take the lead back and begin an 8-0 scoring run to push the lead to 34-27. A Corcoran bucket ended the run, but the sides traded makes to end the half as the Captains took a 38-31 lead into the locker room after a buzzer-beating bucket.
• Jay garcia got the Eagles on the board to start the second half, but it was another string of buckets that allowed CNU to pull away. A 7-0 Captain run pushed the lead out to 45-33, the largest of the night. Both teams traded three-point makes to allow CNU to maintain a 12-point advantage, but a Garcia bucket on a dish from My'la Green would change the tide. The Eagles embarked on a 14-2 run as Jaiden Polston, Savannah Wilson, Garcia and Humpherys all got in on the action, and an Angelina Yann three-pointer tied the game at 50-50 with 49 seconds to go in the quarter. CNU made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the period to take a 52-50 lead to the final stanza. 
• Brunk sank a pair at the charity stripe to open the fourth quarter and knot the game at 52-52. The two sides traded scores, and the Captains extended the lead out to 57-54, but once again the Eagles replied. Brunk paid it in at the cup on a dish from Autumn Gentry to slice the deficit to one, and a Garcia bucket put the Eagles in front 58-57 with 6:25 to play. A Corcoran Jumper pushed the lead to three points, but CNU replied to slice it back down to just a point. The BC defense went to work from that point onward as CNU was held without a field goal for nearly three minutes and BC embarked on an 11-0 run with contributions from Jasmine Griffin, Corcoran, Garcia and a Gentry bucket to make it 71-59 with 1:51 to play. Hailey Kellogg ended the scoring drought for the Captains, and a rare four-point play allowed CNU to close back to within two scores at 71-65 with over a minute to play. BC missed a pair at the line, and CNU had a chance to strike, but a steal by Polston secured an early-season ranked victory. 

Match Notes,

• Corcoran led all scorers with 21 points. Garcia tallied her second double-double in as many games to open the season with 11 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. Brunk had buckets when it mattered for BC with a collegiate0best 13 points, while Gentry came down with eight rebounds down the stretch.
• McKenzie led CNU with 19 points. Dornak grabbed seven rebounds, while Worsham had an active day on defense with five steals. 
• BC won a competitive battle on the boards at a 43-38 clip. The Eagles also shot the ball efficiently at a 50.8% (30/59) mark for the whole contest and were 56.7% from the floor in the second half compared to a 29.0% clip for CNU in the final 20 minutes.
• This is BC's first victory over CNU since 2014.

Up Next
Bridgewater continues a four-game homestand as it hosts No. 19 Catholic on Sunday at 5 p.m. as part of the Bridgewater Invitational.