WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Meghan Fornaro scored all 16 of Coast Guard's third quarter points and the Bears first 21 points of the second half as she finished with a game-high 25 points leading the Bears to a 67-51 win over Clark in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams.

Fornaro, the NEWMAC's leading scorer with 21.8 points per game entering the game, got in early foul trouble and played just seven minutes in the first half. She came out of halftime on fire as she was 5 for 6 from the floor and 3 for 4 from behind the arc in the third quarter and made her first two buckets of the fourth quarter. She started the half 7 for 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

The first Coast Guard points of the second half not by Fornaro were a pair of free throws by senior Torie Sutherland with 5:59 left giving the Bears a 54-44 lead. The first and only Coast Guard field goal of the second half not by Fornaro was a layup by sophomore Jill Bray with 1:25 left in the game. Fornaro finished 9 of 12 from the floor including 4 of 7 from behind the arc.

Coast Guard improves to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the NEWMAC while Clark drops to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Fornaro also moved into seventh place on the Bears all-time scoring list with 1,075 points as she passed Phyllis Blanton ('87), who had 1,073 points.

Sutherland was also in double figures for the Bears as she finished with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds while sophomore Jill Bray also finished with 11 points.

Coast Guard made six of its first eight field goals, led 13-2 with 4:22 left in the first quarter and held Clark to just one field goal in the quarter as the Bears led 19-3 after the first quarter. Clark was just 1 of 15 from the field in the opening period.

The Bears were 9-19 from the floor in the first quarter, 0-6 from behind the arc.

Coast Guard had its largest lead of the half 26-6 with 6:51 left following a basket by Sutherland, but Clark would go on a 14-3 run cutting the deficit to 29-20 with 52 seconds left in the first half. Sophomore Sam O'Gara had seven points in the big run for the Cougars.

Freshman Jayla Joyner's bucket gave her a team-high eight first half points and the Bears led 31-20 at halftime. Coast Guard shot 36.8 percent in the first half (14-38) while Clark was 7 of 33 (21.2 percent) in the opening half.

The Cougars used 9-3 run to start the third quarter cutting the lead to 34-29 on a pair of free throws by sophomore Haley Wilder with 7:11 left.

Fornaro hit her third trey of the quarter to put Coast Guard up 45-35 with 3:05 left in the quarter and the Bears led 47-35 heading to the fourth quarter.

O'Gara led Clark with 15 points in the loss.

The Bears finished 22 of 60 (36.7 percent) from the floor, 5 of 20 from 3-point range. In the second half, Fornaro was 7 for 9 and the rest of the team was 1 for 12. Coast Guard held a 50-38 edge on the glass in the win.

Coast Guard won its first road game of the season and the Bears are now 1-2 on the road and 2-0 at neutral sites this season.

The Bears, who play their first ten games of the season on the road, are back in action on Wednesday night at Smith with a 7:00 tip.