Box Score NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Capital University women's basketball team garnered its first win of the season on the second day of the Main View Tipoff Tournament. The Crusaders defeated Benedictine University (Ill.), 65-52, inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Deadlocked at 26-26 coming out of halftime, the Crusaders (1-2) outscored the Eagles (0-3) 39-26 in the second half to grant their victory. They were aided by a pair of 20-point scoring performances by junior guard Nina Napolitano (Akron, Ohio) and senior guard Shelby Sheets (Fayetteville, Ohio).
Down 31-30 early in the second half, Capital broke off a 17-0 run that propelled them to their first victory of the season. Napolitano began the run with a layup stemming from her own offensive rebound. After two unsuccessful possessions, the Crusaders rattled off three free throw makes to set up another layup by Napolitano, this time created by a steal by the junior. She went on to score four more points during the run and six out of the next 10 Crusaders points.
After running their lead to as high as 14 points, Capital never let the Eagles closer than 10 points of their score.
Napolitano set a new career high in points scored, notching a total of 23 on Saturday. Nineteen of those points came in the second half. She converted 17-of-20 free throw attempts and added three field goals. Napolitano also chipped in five boards, four assists and four steals in 38 minutes of play.
Sheets served as the second Crusaders play with at least 20 points, posting an even 20 on 6-of-12 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-point makes. Sheets added seven rebounds, sharing the team lead with senior Monica Heckman.
Heckman was Capital's third-leading scorer with eight points following a 4-for-9 shooting performance from the field.
Capital shot 82.9 percent from the charity stripe with 29 of their points coming from freebies.
They held the Eagles to just 27.7 percent shooting from the field. Vincenza Ranallo found the most success for Benedictine, scoring 22 points on 7-for-16 shooting, including a 5-for-9 performance from behind the arc.
For her two-day totals, Sheets was named to the Main View Tipoff All-Tournament Team. In two games, she averaged 14 points per game, five rebounds per game, collected four assists and four steals, and shot 36.4 percent from the field.
Capital will play its next game inside the Capital Center on Tuesday, Nov. 25, as part of a basketball doubleheader with Ohio Wesleyan University. The women will kick the action of at 6 p.m.
