WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team was handed the first loss of their 2025-26 campaign on Friday, 60-68, by the University of Hartford. Despite fourth quarter shooting struggles for both sides, Hartford was able to remain in control and close it out for their first win of the season.

Coast Guard moves to 1-1, while Hartford improves to 1-2. The Hawks will visit Springfield College (2-1) for their next game on Saturday, November 22nd.

The Bears started the second quarter in an 8-16 deficit after shooting 3-for-10 from the field and committing ten turnovers, five of which came in the first four minutes, but they bounced back to outscore their hosts by a 19-6 margin in the second. Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.) gave Coast Guard a 22-20 advantage, their first lead of the game, on a three-pointer with 3:01 on the clock. After a pull-up response by Allie Theologians to tie it back up, Lynch's backcourt partner Dorothy Stotts drained a three of her own to take the lead back.

Coast Guard was 8-for-17 in the second quarter and saw improvement on the defensive glass, where they pulled down eight rebounds, limited the hosts to just one offensive rebound compared to their six in the first, and benefited from six Hawks turnovers.

The third quarter saw the Bears come back down to Earth while Hartford exploded. Coast Guard was 3-for-17 in the period, while the Hawks went 10-for-13, including 4-for-6 on threes. The efficiency helped them regain the lead with a ten-point run, which started with them playing a 33-35 trailer while Ava Naszimento was the spark, contributing the first five points.

Coast Guard appeared to vanquish their shooting struggles at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring the first nine points of the final period on 4-for-7 shooting. The Hartford lead was cut down to two during the run when a Farrah Peterein (Oxnard, Calif.) block turned into an Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.) on the other end. The Bears continued to trend upwards after Peterein struck again with a steal of Naszimento and immediately drew a foul from Hawks leading scorer Ella Marchesani, which forced the hosts to sub her out due to it being her fourth. Both sides proceeded to trade scores and Ruby Miller (Bethlehem, Pa.) put the Bears within one at 54-55, finishing through contact on a layup and converting the and-one. 

Hartford put Marchesani back in following the play and she hit a three almost immediately, a bucket that seemed to tighten the faucet on Coast Guard's good fortune. After Marchesani's make, the Bears were 1-for-11 from the field for the rest of the game and finished the quarter at 7-for-25, which made them unable to capitalize on Marchesani's eventual foul-out despite outscoring the Hawks by a 20-17 margin in the quarter.

Neither team was excellent in shooting on the night, but Hartford's 23-for-61 (37.7%) from the field and 9-for-22 (40.9%) on threes was enough in the face of Coast Guard going 21-for 69 (30.4%) from all over and 5-for-22 (22.7%) from deep. Hartford had four scorers reach double-digits, led by Marchesani with 19 points with five of her six makes being threes. Coast Guard was led by Wright, who had 16 points to go with her team-high six rebounds.

Shenloogian recorded a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds, all on the defensive glass, and Naszimento was close to one with 15 points and nine boards while wreaking defensive havoc with a block and two steals. Peterein was all over the stat sheet for the Bears with nine points, four assists, two steals, and two blocks. She had a hand in 12 of Coast Guard's points during the good second quarter, scoring seven and assisting on two buckets including the triple by Lynch.

Bears women's basketball will look to bounce back on Saturday, November 15th, with a game at Sarah Lawrence College (1-1) for their third straight road game. The contest will be the first meeting of the two teams in either program's history.