Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn. – Senior Lisa Mendez keyed a 10-0 second half run as WPI remained unbeaten in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play and won its 13th straight beating Coast Guard 58-45.
Mendez had back-to-back old fashion 3-point plays in the final 45 seconds of the third quarter turning a 31-29 deficit into a 35-31 lead after three.
Mendez's six points at the end of the quarter sparked a 10-0 run into the fourth quarter as WPI took a 41-31 lead on a basket by sophomore Maura Buckley with 8:33 left in the game. Coast Guard would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
WPI improves to 15-1 overall and 7-0 in the NEWMAC while the Bears saw their four-game win streak snapped dropping to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
Sophomore Ama Biney led WPI with 14 points, Mendez had 11 points and Buckley also finished with 11 points. The Engineers shot 33.9 percent (20-59) and missed all ten from behind the arc.
Senior Meghan Fornaro had a game-high 25 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead Coast Guard, which shot 25.4 percent in the loss (15-59) including six of 23 from 3-point range.
Coast Guard turned the ball over 17 times while WPI had just eight turnovers in the win.
In a sluggish first quarter, Fornaro scored the Bears first seven points and Coast Guard led 7-6 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. Both teams struggled shooting in the opening stanza as the Bears were just 3 of 12 and WPI was 5 of 18. The Engineers led 11-9 after the first quarter.
The offensive struggles continued on both sides in the second quarter. The Engineers did open up a 16-11 lead with on a basket by Biney with 5:23 left in the half, but the Bears closed the half on a 9-2 run to take a 20-18 lead at halftime. Fornaro had 16 of the Bears 20 first half points to go with nine rebounds.
The Bears shot 8 of 27 in the first half (29.6 percent). Fornaro was 6 of 13 and the rest of the team was 2 of 14 in the opening half. WPI was 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) in the first half including 0 for 7 from behind the arc. Coast Guard was just 2 of 12 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Buckley jump started the Engineers with four straight to start the second half as WPI scored five straight for a 23-20 lead.
The Bears would answer with a 7-0 spurt capped on a layup by junior Bekah Muller with 4:48 left in the third quarter for a 27-23 lead.
The Bears are back in action on Thursday night in a non-conference game at archrival Merchant Marine at 6:00.
