LILBURN, Ga. -- Wrapping up another sensational season for the Christopher Newport women's basketball team, the Captains were ranked No. 12 in the nation according to the final Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. Christopher Newport finished with a 25-4 overall record and garnered 105 points in the poll for the third highest final ranking in the eight-year tenure under head coach Bill Broderick. 

The Captains posted their highest finish since 2017 when the Captains reached the Final Four and were ranked No. 4 in the last poll of the season. Christopher Newport has now finished in the top-25 of the WBCA poll in all but two seasons since the 2009-10 season. 

After making a program-record fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Christopher Newport University women's basketball team was also ranked No. 16 in the nation according to the final D3hoops.com Top 25 released on Monday. 

Under the direction of head coach Bill Broderick in his eighth year, the Captains have advanced to the second weekend of the postseason tournament in all seven NCAA Tournament appearances and are one of just three programs to reach the "Sweet 16" in the last five consecutive tournaments. The season was cut short due to the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, but the Christopher Newport women's basketball team closed the year with a 25-win campaign and a 17-game winning streak that will carry over into 2020-21.

Christopher Newport captured the team's third CAC regular season championship as well as the third conference tournament crown as they earned the Capital Athletic Conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. In advancing to the postseaosn event, the Captains made the 21st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. 

In the final 22 games of the season, the Captains were 21-1 with the only loss coming by five points to Tufts University, ranked No. 1 at the time and finishing the season ranked No. 2 in the nation. The 17-game winning streak is the third longest active streak in Division III behind only No. 1 Hope (W29) and No. 6 Oglethorpe (W27). Christopher Newport has also registered the third longest home winning streak in program history with 21 straight victories at the Freeman Center. 

Over the course of the 2019-20 season, the Captains put together one of the finest seasons in program history both offensively and defensively. Averaging 79.5 points per game, Christopher Newport ranked seventh in the nation and seventh in Captains history with a fast-paced attack that outscored opponents by an average of 17.3 points per game. CNU hit the second most three-pointers in a single season and consistently made it to the free-throw line, ranking second nationally in free throws made while knocking down nearly 73% to rank second in program lore. On the defensive end, Christopher Newport forced 27.72 turnovers per game ranking third in the nation and posting a top-ten effort in CNU history. 

While the season was cut short, the Captains still posted impressive individual numbers as well. Freshman Anaya Simmons was named the D3hoops.com Mid-Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year along with the CAC Rookie of the Year plaque as well. She logged inarguably one of the finest first years in Christopher Newport history after knocking down 57.3% of her shots, shattering the freshman record and ranking second all-time across all classes. She was one of three players to average double figures this season, pouring in 11.0 points per game, joining sophomore All-Conference selections Sondra Fan and Natalie Terwilliger.

Fan led the Captains with 13.2 points per game while shooting 38.7% from three-point land, ranking third-best for second-year players in program history, and 80.2% from the free-throw line, the second best mark for a sophomore. She also led the team in assists, with 70, and steals, with 60. She was also named a second team D3hoops.com All-Region selection and was a first team All-Conference pick. Terwilliger added 11.3 points per game and also led the Captains in rebounding with 6.4 per game. The second-year forward swatted 30 shots to lead the team while adding 25 steals. 

The Christopher Newport roster featured just one senior, Kiana Kirkland, who suffered a season-ending injury in early January. The Captains played the second half of the season without Kirkland, a 2019 All-Region star who wrapped up her career with over 750 points. Kirkland scored her final bucket in a ceremonial moment on Senior Night against Salisbury in which she took the opening possession and stuck a layup for her final appearance with the Captains. 

Heading into 2020-21, a pair of juniors in Bailey Hodges and Jasmine Norman are set to return for their final campaign while the roster made up of primarily freshmen and sophomores will look to extend the postseason appearance streak for the Captains. Sixteen players wrapped up their first or second season for Christopher Newport in 2019-20. 

2019-20 WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll

March 19, 2020 - FINAL POLL

The WBCA NCAA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll with teams' RECORDS THROUGH THE END OF THE SEASON, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, first-place votes received in parenthesis and ranking in the March 2, 2020 poll:

Printable version (PDF)

Rank	School	Record	Total Points	Previous Rank
1	Hope (8)	29-0	200	1
2	Bowdoin	27-2	190	2
3	Tufts	28-1	186	3 (tie)
4	Amherst	24-4	166	7
5	Whitman	26-3	155	11
6	Oglethorpe	29-1	152	8
7	Baldwin-Wallace	28-2	142	13
8	Loras	25-4	135	14
9	DePauw	28-2	127	3 (tie)
10	Mary Hardin-Baylor	26-4	123	16
11	Wartburg	25-4	115	5
12	Christopher Newport	25-4	105	20
13	Messiah	25-4	101	17
14	Bethel (MN)	26-2	86	6
15	George Fox	23-6	73	NR
16	Wisconsin-Whitewater	23-4	63	10
17	Texas-Dallas	23-6	61	25
18	Transylvania	25-3	60	9
19	Trine	23-6	59	NR
20	Scranton	24-4	41	12
21	Wisconsin-Oshkosh	20-10	39	NR
22	Smith	26-4	38	NR
23	Williams	20-8	31	NR
24	Trinity (TX)	23-5	27	15
25	Chicago	21-6	23	22

Others receiving votes: Rowan (25-4) 22; Illinois Wesleyan (20-9) 21; Austin (23-5) 19; SUNY New Paltz (25-4) 14; Augsburg (22-5) 9; Marymount (VA) (24-5) 9; NYU (21-6) 5; Ithaca (23-6) 3.

Dropped Out: Rowan (25-4); Austin (23-5); SUNY New Paltz (25-4); Augsburg (22-5); Albright (22-6).

The WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches Poll Committee is made up of nine head coaches at Division III institutions. All are members of the WBCA. The 2019-20 committee members are Polly Thomason, non-voting chair (Texas-Dallas), Casey Kushiyama (Puget Sound), Alex Lang (Brooklyn), Bobbi Morgan (Haverford), Jennifer Reimer (Case Western Reserve), Alex Richey (Oglethorpe), Mia Smith (Illinois Wesleyan), Daphne Thompson (SUNY Oneonta) and Kelly Thompson (Roger Williams).