Blue Basketball Downs Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, CONN. -- Sophomore Leslie Leong led all scorers with 21 points including 12 for 12 from the foul line leading Wellesley to a 54-46 win over Coast Guard in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game.

Wellesley improves to 12-10 overall and 11-6 in the NEWMAC while Coast Guard drops to 5-18 overall and 1-16 in conference play.

The Blue did most of its damage from the foul line converting 25 of 33 from the stripe, despite shooting just 27.1 percent from the floor (13-48). The Bears went the the foul line just 14 times and made 11 of 14.

In a low scoring first half, Wellesley had its largest lead 11-5 with 8:20 left in the first half and the Blue led 22-20 at the break.

Wellesley used a 9-1 run in the first three minutes of the second half and take a 31-21 lead with 16:58 left. Coast Guard cut the lead to three on two different occasions the last being 47-44 with two minutes left following a pair of free throws by Jamie Waterman.

The Blue put the game away as first-year Natalie Anderson and senior Elisha Orama each made a pair of free throws to make the scord 51-44 with 1:10 left.

Leong narrowly missed a double-double to lead the Blue, finishing with a game-high nine rebounds. Anderson was fantastic off the bench for Wellesley, picking up ten points, including going 6-6 from the free throw line. Rounding out the offense for the Blue, Orama finished with seven points, while junior Malia Maier racked up seven steals, four assists and four points. 

Sophomore Larla Brown led the Bears with a season-high 16 points off the bench as she hit on eight of 13 from the floor. Coast Guard shot well, 40.5 percent from the field (17-42), but made just one of nine from three-point range.

Wellesley and Coast Guard will both play their regular season finales on Saturday. The Blue travel to Smith for a 2:00pm tip, while the Bears travel to WPI for a 2:00pm game.