The Captains of Christopher Newport handed the Greensboro College women’s basketball team a 58-41 grudge match defeat in the USA South tournament semi-finals on Saturday. The Pride struggled scoring early on and shot only 23% on the game in a very defensive contest. Christopher Newport advances to the championship to play Ferrum, while The Pride will have to wait until Monday to see if they will advance to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row with an at-large bid.
Greensboro scored the opening bucket, but the Captains scored 13 straight to open an early gap. During that stretch, Danielle Duncan picked up two quick fouls, and the USA Player-of-the Year had to spend most of the first half on the bench. Greensboro worked hard to chip away at the lead, and Bianca Richburg carried The Pride with eight points and 10 rebounds, but the Captains led 28-13 at the half.
The Pride started the second half strong, and Duncan scored her first four points of the game in the opening minutes, but two more quick fouls sent her to the bench again and Christopher Newport took advantage. Jena Cabe hit two threes to keep The Pride close, but the Captains clamped down on defense to secure the win.
Richburg led The Pride with her ninth double-double of the year, scoring 11 and grabbing 18 rebounds. Andrienne Terrell scored nine to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.
FINAL 1 2 T Greensboro (22-5) 13 28 41 Chris. Newport (22-5) 28 30 58 Freeman Center; Newport News, Va. Greensboro Chris. Newport Pts: Bianca Richburg - 11 Pts: PERRY, Tia - 14 Reb: Bianca Richburg - 18 Reb: 2 Players (#20, #50 - 10) Ast: Andrienne Terrell - 3 Ast: 2 Players (#04, #33 - 5) Team Statistics Greensboro Chris. Newport Field Goal % 23.0% (14-61 ) 36.4% (24-66 ) Rebounds 44 52 Assists 7 20 Turnovers 12 11 Pts off Turnovers 9 7 2nd Chance Pts 10 12 Pts in the Paint 16 24 Fastbreak Pts 3 6 Bench Pts 3 21