UMW Women's Basketball Tops #16 CNU, 66-53, Behind Thompson's 26 Points

UMW Women's Basketball Tops #16 CNU, 66-53, Behind Thompson's 26 Points

Junior Emily Thompson scored a career-high 26 points to lead the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team to a 66-53 victory over 16th ranked Christopher Newport University on Saturday at Rosner Arena. The Eagles improve to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in Capital Athletic Conference play, while the Captains fall to 10-3 and 1-1.

The first quarter saw the teams trade baskets, starting with a pair of three pointers from Thompson and two from the Captains in the opening 2:23. CNU scored five straight to take an 11-6 edge, but Erika Carter and Jordan Pamlanye added baskets and Thompson capped the run with a three pointer to give UMW a 13-11 advantage. The teams traded buckets to finish the frame with UMW holding a 15-13 edge.

In the second, the teams traded baskets until Thompson hit her fourth triple of the day to push the Eagle advantage to 24-19. CNU used a pair of free throws and a three pointer to knot the score at 24-24 with 3:12 left before intermission. After the Captains took the lead with a pair of free throws, UMW hit five free throws down the stretch, and Thompson buried her fifth three pointer of the half just before the buzzer to give UMW a 32-26 lead at halftime.

The Eagles started fast in the third quarter, with Tory Martin making a layup, and Thompson stayed hot with another three to push the UMW advantage to 37-26 with 8:51 left. A Thompson jumper with 8:02 left extended the lead to 39-26, before the Captains answered from distance. Martin scored again to give UMW a 41-29 lead, and another Thompson basket extended the lead to 14 at 43-29. The Captains got the deficit to single digits, but a three pointer from senior Meghan Comer pushed UMW's lead back to 48-36 with 2:34 left in the third. Martin, Carter, and sophomore Kayla Sakyi each made layups to keep the Captains at bay, and the Eagles carried a 54-41 advantage to the final 10 minutes.

After a pair of CNU baskets trimmed the margin to nine, baskets from Martin and Sakyi returned the lead to 13 points with 5:45 left. Freshman Thora Gibbs scored a basket before Thompson hit a pair of free throws with 4:09 left to extend the lead to 62-45. Five straight points from CNU returned the margin to 12, and after a pair of Comer free throws, the visitors hit another three pointer to push the score to 64-53 with 47 seconds left. Sakyi capped the scoring with a pair of free throws with nine seconds left to give the Eagles a 13-point win.

The Eagles shot 48% from the floor (24-50), making 7-12 three point tries, and 11-16 free throws. CNU shot 31.6% (18-57), making 7-29 three point tries, and 10-16 free throws.The eagles won the rebounding battle, 37-31. 

Thompson scored her 26 points on 8-12 shooting, making 6-9 three pointers and 4-5 free throws. Martin scored 11 on 5-9 shooting from the floor, and Pamlanye led with eight rebounds.

The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday when they host Salisbury University at 6:00 p.m. for Spotsylvania and Stafford County Schools Night.