NEW LONDON, Conn.  -  The Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team began their 2024-25 campaign on tonight, soundly defeating visiting Gordon College, 77-52. The result was the fifth-straight opening night win for the Bears, with the last loss being a 59-70 defeat at the hands of UMass Boston on November 10, 2018.

Coast Guard held a 39-23 lead by halftime. Junior guard Dorothy Stotts scored the bulk of it with 16 points on six-for-eight from the field while going two-for-three from beyond the arc. Also impressive in the first half was senior forward Glory Blethen, who scored ten points to go along with seven rebounds, three of which were on the offensive end, and a block. Gordon's leading scorer in the half was Woynitu Ciccarello, a first-year guard from nearby East Haddam, who scored nine of her 13 points on three-pointers.

The Scots showed some fight coming out of halftime by outscoring Coast Guard, 21-18, in the third quarter, shooting eight-for-20 while limiting the Bears to four-for-16; however, the hosts would turn it back around in the fourth quarter, outscoring their opponents, 20-8.  The Scots scored only three times from the field and converted one free throw attempt.

Stotts cooled down in the second half but finished with a game-leading 25 points, just one point shy of her career-high; Blethen recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds, which was the first time she accomplished the feat since last season's clash with Westfield State on December 2nd. Senior forward Julia Mann was one rebound away from a double-double of her own with her ten-point, nine-rebound showing. Fellow senior forward Kelly Hagerty was a force to be reckoned with in the second half, finishing the game with 18 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and three steals. Ciccarello finished the game with 19 points, while the only other Scot to finish with more than five points was senior guard Ami Rivera, who had eight.

Finally, all six of Coast Guard's first-year players made their collegiate debuts in the blowout, gaining a combined 33 minutes of experience. Guard Ruby Miller saw the most action out of the class, playing 20 minutes.

The Bears will head to Troy, New York, to take on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for their next game on Wednesday, November 13th; tip-off is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. The Engineers went 9-16 last season and were defeated in last year's match-up at Coast Guard, 65-76. Hagerty scored 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and swatted five shots, while Blethen and Stotts combined for 28 points by scoring 14 each.