NEW LONDON, Conn. –

In their first game vs Rhode Island College in over 24 years, the Bears fell to the Anchorwomen by a score of 86-70. With the win, RIC improves to 9-2 on the year. The perennial Little East contender is off until after the new year when they will get back to league play on the road, January 6th vs Southern Maine at 5:00 PM. Today, RIC got 61 of their 86 points from just two women: junior Meagan Schuermann(Cooperstown, NY) with 32, and sophomore Shalyn Smith(Middletown, CT) with 29. 

For Coast Guard, Elliot Geer(Jay, OK) gave the best performance thus far in her young and promising career. For starters, she was the only woman on either side to play all 40 minutes. And Geer, who can't play any other way, was full bore all 40 minutes. She led the team in points(18), rebounds(13), and assists(4), setting new career highs in both points and rebounds. After falling short by one rebound last game, today's 18 points and 13 rebounds give Geer her first career double-double.

Just behind Geer in scoring was Olivia Wright(Midlothian, VA), who scored 17 points and continued to excel from beyond the arc with three makes. Wright also contributed two steals and four rebounds. Taylor Lynch(Madison, IN) was the third Bear in double figures, scoring 12 with three assists. Off the bench, Ruby Miller(Bethlehem, PA) and Mackenzie Hilden(Dover, PA) gave eight points a piece. Hilden, who typically does her damage from the inside, found her stroke and was money from mid-range. Also giving big minutes for CGA was spark plug Anna Gredell(Fair Haven, NJ) who was a nuisance on defense, recording two steals and three boards.

Colleen Finnegan(Dover, PA) made the lives of the Anchorwomen difficult all game long in the paint with a new career high four blocks while Farrah Peterein(Oxnard, CA) had two of her own.

For the Bears, it was the first quarter that was the difference. They outscored RIC in both the 2nd and 3rd quarters and held even throughout most of the 4th. In the 1st however, they were outscored 22-6. In that first, RIC shot 75% from three and 46.7% from the field. CGA on the other hand was 0-5 from three and shot 11.7% from the field in quarter one. After the first, the Bears played excellent ball and mounted an impressive comeback. They shot over 50% from the field in the final three quarters and cut their deficit into single digits on multiple occasions in the final frame.

The Bears loss brings them back to .500 at 5-5. Just after the new year, they will travel down to Reading, PA for a matchup against Albright College on January 2nd at 1:00 PM.