Coast Guard Slips By Wellesley Basketball

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The visiting Coast Guard Bears used hot second-half shooting, including 24 second-period points from Victoria Sutherland, to upset Wellesley College 64-56 on Wednesday night at Keohane Sports Center. The win lifts Coast Guard to 10-13 on the season, 8-9 in NEWMAC competition. Wellesley drops to 13-8, 12-5 in conference play.

Both teams were cold in the first half, with the Bears shooting 26% from the floor and the Blue shooting 23%. Coast Guard turned it around in second half as they shot 57% from the field while holding Wellesley to 31%.

The first period was a game of runs, with Wellesley making the first surge. Despite cold shooting, the Blue inched out to a 10-5 lead at the 11:03 mark, highlighted by two baskets from Morgyne Weaver and three points from Courtney Jackson. The Bears responded with a 14-0 run, holding the Blue scoreless for six minutes while building a 19-10 advantage with 5:37 remaining in the half.  The visitors' charge included a layup from Karli Collins, a trey from Alexi Howland, and perfect freethrow shooting from Larla Brown and Kaitlin Ward.

Ashleigh Sargent ended the drought for the Blue with two free throws at the 4:53 mark. Wellesley's Leslie Leong took charge the rest of the period, tallying seven points during a run that tied the game at 20-20. Sargent closed out the period with three-pointer at the buzzer to give the hosts a 23-20 advantage at the break.

After a first half highlighted by tight defense and below-average shooting, both squads came out hot in the second half. Wellesley grabbed 31-26 advantage with two quick three-pointers from Malia Maier, but Coast Guard charged back with four points from Ward and three from Victoria Sutherland to take a 33-31 lead with 15:57 remaining. The Bears shooting remained hot over the next five minutes, with back-to-back threes from Sutherland, and one three each from Howland and Megan Fornaro, as they built a 47-37 lead midway through the period.

Wellesley clawed back into the game with a trey from Meghan Sargent and four more points from Leong, cutting the lead to 47-44 at the 8:55 mark. The Blue eventually trimmed the advantage to 54-52 on two Chelsi Scott freethrows, but the hosts could get no closer as the Bears hung on for the 64-56 upset.

Sutherland's 25 points led all players, while Howland and Ward each added 10 for the visitors. Dani Knox recorded seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds (nine defensive), while Fornaro rounded out the Coast Guard box score with five points and three steals.

Wellesley's Ashleigh Sargent and Leong each scored 15 points, while Sargent picked up six rebounds and Leong added five. Weaver tallied eight points for the Blue, while Maier again filled her stat line, recording 10 steals, seven points, six rebounds and five assists.

Both squads close out their regular seasons on Saturday at 2pm, when Coast Guard hosts WPI and Wellesley hosts Smith.