KINGS POINT, N.Y. —
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team fell to their archrivals from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 55-78, in the two teams' annual rivalry match-up. The Mariners benefitted from consistent shooting on the way to the win.
Coast Guard moves to 4-3 with the loss, while Kings Point improves to 6-3 and extends their lead in the race for the Superintendents' Trophy to 5-2-1. The Mariners will face Skyline Conference foes Purchase College (5-3) in their next contest on Tuesday, December 9th.
The only player in double-digits for the Bears was
Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.), who scored 10 to go with her team-high 6 boards.
Georgia Pauli (Tiburon, Calif.) and
Colleen Finnegan (Dover, Pa.) both had nine, with Pauli splashing two threes on the way to her's and Finnegan pulling down five boards. Pauli also matched with
Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.) for a team-high three assists. Coast Guard was also brought down by the absence for most of the game of leading scorer
Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.), who exited the game due to an injury to her shooting arm after taking a hard foul on a lay-up attempt.
Merchant Marine saw three players contribute at least 15 points, with two reaching the 20s.
Breanna Sommers led the way with 22 points, going 8-for-15 from the field and a Curry-esque 6-for-8 on three-pointers.
Emily Grasseler and
Carolae Barton both recorded double-doubles, with Grassaler going for 21 points and 10 boards and Barton putting up 15 and a game-high 11, also adding three blocks to her line.
A tale of two shooting nights saw the Mariners shoot 44.3% from the field and 8-for-16 (50.0%) on threes, while Coast Guard shot 34.3% overall and 7-for-26 (26.9%) from behind the line. Merchant Marine also notched a 44-24 advantage in the rebounding battle, including a 13-7 margin on the offensive glass.
Bears women's basketball will look to bounce back on Monday, December 8th, when they head down the street to face neighboring Connecticut College (5-3). The Bears took last season's bout at home, 84-74, thanks in part to a 30-point, 6-assist game from Stotts.
