NEW LONDON, Conn.—Sophomore Abbie Brickley had 17 of her game-high 22 points in the first half leading Wheaton to a 52-45 win over Coast Guard in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams.

Coast Guard led 11-10 with 10:40 left in the first half before the Lyons used a 15-4 spurt to open its largest lead of the half, 25-15, with 2:31 left. Wheaton led 25-19 at halftime.

The Bears scored the first three buckets of the second half to knot the score at 25-25 with 17:13 left in the game, but the Lyons took the lead for good and scored seven straight to open a 32-25 lead with 14:28 left in the game.

Coast Guard would get as close as four at 35-31 following a pair of free throws by junior Kaitlin Ward with 11:29 left, but again Wheaton used a run, this time six straight to take its largest lead of the half, 41-31 with 8:25 left.

Junior Melissa McLaughlin added 15 points and a team-high five assists in the win as the Lyons improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

Wheaton shot 41.3 percent from the field (19-46) while making five of 15 from 3-point range.

Freshman Meghan Fornaro led the Bears with 13 points while Ward had nine points to go with her team-high eight rebounds and five assists in the loss for Coast Guard, which drops to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the NEWMAC. Senior Karli Collins also had eight rebounds while junior Larla Brown added nine points for Coast Guard.

The Bears shot 33.3 percent from the floor (18 of 54) while making just 3 of 20 from 3-point range.