The Bears of the United States Coast Guard Academy were simply too much for the women’s basketball team Tuesday night, shooting the lights out at Silloway Gymnasium for a 70-56 victory. The Bears shot nearly 50 percent from the field over the course of the game and nearly 80 percent from the free-throw line. The strong shooting night ended a five-year winning streak that Wesleyan had over Coast Guard.
The Cardinals started the game well, opening with a 16-11 lead, but with 7:52 left in the first half, the Bears began a six-minute tear in which they scored 14 unanswered points, including 10 from senior Natalie Moyer who had 21 on the game. The Bears forced nine turnovers over that stretch.
“We got away from our game plan,” said Nikki Maletta ’08. “We knew what we had to do, but we just didn’t do it. On the offensive end, it wasn’t as much the turnovers but the poor decision-making that hurt us.”
After halftime, Coast Guard came out strong, building on its six-point lead with a 7-0 run to make the score 39-26 with just over 15 minutes to play. There were no more lead changes as the Bears hung on to win by 14 points.
One of the big differences in the game was the Bears’ ability to get to the line. They repeatedly broke down Wesleyan’s defense so that the help couldn’t get there in time, forcing contact. Coast Guard converted its opportunities from the line as it went 19 for 24 on the game. The Bears scored nine more points from free throws in the game than did the Cardinals.
Coast Guard sophomore Melissa Martinelli had a breakout performance with 22 points, a remarkable 18 of which came in the second-half effort to hold the Cards at bay.
“I think that we took [Coast Guard] a little too lightly,” said Ali Fourney ’09, who had 21 points and five rebounds on the day. “They’re a strong shooting team, and we weren’t able to get out on their shooters.”
Despite the loss, the Cards are looking forward.
“We’re just going to try and put this game behind us,” Fourney said. “We can’t be caught up on this game going into Emmanuel. We just need to play our game in our gym and, if we do that, the results should be in our favor.”
Wesleyan took on Emmanuel College yesterday evening, coming out with a 74-66 win.
The team will play Rhode Island College away on Dec. 11.
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