Coast Guard Hands Wellesley Basketball 47-43 NEWMAC Setback

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College basketball fell 47-43 to U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Saturday afternoon at the Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference matchup. 

Wellesley is now 8-13 on the season and 5-9 in NEWMAC play. Coast Guard improves to 12-11 overall and 5-9 in the conference.   

Coast Guard was led by junior Micaela Martinelli (Vero Beach, Fla.) with 19 points. Martinelli was 5-for-10 from behind the arc, while tossing in three helpers, and taking down five rebounds. Senior Gillian Gerton (Lorton, Va.) added seven points and a game-high eight rebounds for the visitors. 

Sophomore Emily Kopp (King Ferry, N.Y.) paced the Blue with 13 points. Kopp went 5-for-9 from the field and also brought down five rebounds for the Blue. Sophomore Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) added nine points and five boards, while first year Lane Arkangel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) had eight points, all in the first half.

With Wellesley trailing 8-6 in the final minute of the opening quarter, Arkangel hit four free throws and made a layup in a 50-seconds span to give the Blue the 11-8 advantage. Wellesley jumped to a 19-14 lead when Kopp hit two free throws just past the midway point of the second, but Coast Guard scored the final five points, tying the contest at 19-19 when junior Johanna Moolenaar (Denver, N.C.) made a free throw with 27 seconds left before the halftime break.

Wellesley senior Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) scored on a jump shot at 9:14 to surge a 9-1 run for Wellesley to open up the third quarter. With Wellesley now leading 28-20, Coast Guard chipped away at the lead before Martinelli made back-to-back threes at the end of the third to give Coast Guard a 35-34 advantage going into the final quarter.

The momentum continued for the Bears as sophomore Breanna Wood (Somerset, Mass.) and first year Annabella Farabaugh (Atlanta, Ga.) made consecutive layups at 9:57 and 9:24 to extend the lead to 39-34. The Blue eventually cut the deficit within one, at 42-41, when Kopp scored from behind the arc at 3:42 and when senior Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) made it 44-43 at 2:19, but it wasn't enough as Coast Guard hit their free throws to secure the 47-43 win.  

Coast Guard shot 45.7% (16-for-35) from the floor, while Wellesley finished shooting 28.3% (15-for-53). The Bears also held the advantage in rebounds as they brought down 36 compared to Wellesley's 26.  

Both teams return to the court on Wednesday, February 14 at 7:30 PM in NEWMAC contests.  Coast Guard Academy will host Clark University, while the Blue will travel to WPI.