Wheaton's eight-game NEWMAC streak snapped at Coast Guard, Lyons fall into first-place tie with Bears following 76-61 loss

February 9, 2008

NEW LONDON, CT- The Wheaton College women's basketball team saw its eight-game New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) winning streak come to an end Saturday afternoon at the United States Coast Guard Academy, as the Bears jumped out early and never looked back in their 76-61 victory at Merriman Gymnasium.

Falling to 15-6 and now tied for first place in league play with Coast Guard at 8-1, Wheaton had won 11 of 12 games entering today. The Bears earned their third straight victory to improve to 17-3 and 8-1.

Two Wheaton buckets by sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) kept the Lyons close in the early going, trailing 5-4 with 16 minutes to play in the opening half, before Coast Guard went on an 11-2 run during 2:46 to lead 16-6. Champney and classmate Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) made it a six-point game with consecutive baskets, but the hosts slowly began to pull away, scoring 19 of the game's next 24 points for a 35-15 advantage at 6:05. The Bears hit 7-of-9 with a trio of three-pointers during the run, and Coast Guard eventually held a 45-25 lead at the break.

Wheaton made just nine field goals in the opening stanza, knocking down 36 percent of its shots, while committing 11 turnovers. The Bears made 50 percent of their 28 field goal attempts, including shooting 8-of-16 from three-point territory and a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line. Coast Guard had four players with at least eight points, with senior Corinne McCormack (Havertown, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) and freshman Jennifer Tamminen (Irvine, CA/Northwood) accounting for 13 and 12, respectively. Champney had 11 for the Lyons.

A 10-4 Bear spurt to open the second half gave Coast Guard a 55-29 lead, as senior Natalie Moyer (Oklahoma City, OK/Bishop McGuiness) buried a pair of threes. Another Moyer trey pushed the Bears out to their largest lead, 60-33 at 15:41. Coast Guard led 71-48 with five minutes left before 11 straight Wheaton points during 2:05 brought the Lyons to 71-59 at 2:16. Junior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) scored the final four points of the run, but it proved to be too little too late as the Bears made five of six free throws in the last 1:36 to clinch the win.

Hickey and junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) paced the visitors with 13 points each. Champney finished with 11 points, while senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) grabbed a team-best six boards. The Lyons knocked down 19-of-22 free throws for an 86.4 percent clip.

Moyer's game-best 23 points came on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point territory. Sophomore Melissa Martinelli (Vero Beach, FL/Sebastian River) recorded 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with a game-high eight rebounds. McCormack accounted for 15 points and a game-best six assists, while Tamminen finished with 12 points. The Bears made 46.2 percent of their shots, 44.0 percent of their threes and 89.5 percent of their free throws.

Wheaton looks to get back to its winning ways on Wednesday with a conference home game against Wellesley College at 7:00 p.m.

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