Coast Guard knocks Lyon women out of first place, 76-64

February 15, 2007

NEW LONDON, CT- The Wheaton College women's basketball team suffered its second consecutive loss Thursday night, 76-64, as the Lyons scored just 21 second-half points after clinging to a 43-42 halftime edge at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at Merriman Gymnasium.

Wheaton is still assured a home playoff game on Wednesday for the first time in 11 seasons. The Lyons, who are now 16-8 overall and 9-3 in league play, fell into a second-place tie with Mount Holyoke College and can finish no lower than fourth in the league standings. Coast Guard improves to 13-11 and 6-6.

A three-pointer by senior Samara Audet (Derry, NH/Trinity) just seven seconds into play set the early tone for the Wheaton offense, as the Blue and White went on to hit five of its first seven three-point attempts to hold a 19-14 advantage with 13:35 to play. Audet scored Wheaton's first eight points, and five different Lyon players followed to give the visitors their largest lead at 21-14 with 12:49 to go. Wheaton maintained its seven-point margin midway through the half, but Coast Guard used a 12-3 run during a 3:04 span to lead 30-28 at 7:33. Bear junior Natalie Moyer (Oklahoma City, OK/Bishop McGuiness) scored nine straight points to give the hosts a 34-28 edge.

Trailing 37-32 with less than three minutes before the intermission, Wheaton sophomore Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) scored five straight points for the game's third tie at 2:06. Two more ties ensued, but it was senior Casey Sorbara's (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) second free throw with 16 ticks on the clock that broke the stalemate, giving the Lyons the 43-42 halftime advantage. Hickey paced Wheaton with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while freshman Melissa Martinelli (Vero Beach, FL/Sebastian River) led three double-figure Coast Guard scorers with 14 points.

The second stanza turned out to be a tale of two halves for the Lyons, who scored just four points through the first 9:30 of play. Moyer scored nine Bear points during that spurt to give the hosts their biggest lead at 56-47 with 10:41 left. Wheaton narrowed its deficit to four on three occasions, with the latter coming with 1:18 to go thanks to a lay-up from senior Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) to make the score 68-64, but would get no closer as Coast Guard scored the final eight points of the contest.

Wheaton struggled from the field in the second half, making just 24.3 percent of its shots after a 50.0 percent showing in the first frame. The Lyons also came up empty on 10 second-half three tries after going 6-of-9 from beyond the arc in the opening half. Hickey finished with a team-best 23 points and six rebounds, while McCormack had 15 points, five boards and four assists. Audet added 13 points and a team-best seven boards, while Sorbara tallied five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

For Coast Guard, Moyer turned in an outstanding performance of 29 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. Martinelli posted 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven boards, while junior DeCarol Davis (Woodbridge, VA/Forest Park) rounded out the double-figure scoring with 16 points, going 9-of-10 from the free throw line. The Bears took 18 fewer second-half shots than the Lyons, shooting 52.6 percent on 19 attempts.

Wheaton wraps up its regular season Saturday afternoon at Springfield College with plenty at stake, as a win would give the Lyons at least the second seed during next week's conference tournament. Tip off at Blake Arena is set for 3:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/16/07.
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