FREDERICKSBURG, VA - Ashley Kowack led three UC Santa Cruz players in double-figures, but the Banana Slugs' comeback ran out of time in a hard-fought 74-70 loss to top-ranked Christopher Newport.
UC Santa Cruz went to 13-3 on the season in their first of two games at the Coast-To-Coast Classic.
After an even first quarter, the Captains outscored UC Santa Cruz 23-13 in the second to have a 45-35 halftime lead. After the Banana Slugs held CNU to 12 in the third, they began to climb out of a double-digit deficit.
With nine minutes left, a touchdown pass from Kaylee Murphy to Kowack made it a 59-50 game. Then, Savannah Powell hit a three from the left corner :40 seconds later to make it 61-53 and break the Banana Slugs' 0-6 three-point skid. Kowack hit another three a minute later and then a layup which made it 64-58. With under two minutes left, the Banana Slugs went on a 7-2 run to get within four at 72-68 with :40 seconds left.

After a pair of CNU free throws, the Banana Slugs raced down and had two cracks at a long jumper before Amanda Inserra's long two made it 74-70. However, the Captains broke the press and dribbled out the clock for the final score. In total, CNU hit 8-11 free throws in the last quarter to hold off the Banana Slug comeback.
Kowack, the C2C's top scorer, finished with 25 points, tying her season high. Murphy added 16 points plus team-highs of 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Inserra finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds playing all 40 minutes.
Sondra Fan had 23 points to lead CNU, who went to 20-0 on the season.
The difference in the close game came at the free-throw line, where the Captains went 19-28 (67.9%) compared to 9-17 (52.9%) for UC Santa Cruz.

The C2C Classic concludes on Sunday when the Banana Slugs face host Mary Washington.