NEW LONDON, Conn. --

Coming into the afternoon, Coast Guard had won five straight contests vs Conn College, dating back to 2021. Conn College stopped that Bears winning streak in its tracks with a 66-44 win over CGA. The victory for Conn College sends them into break at 6-4 on the season. After the New Year, they will host Babson College on January 3rd at 1:00 PM.

The beginning of the first quarter was an omen for things to come for the Bears. They turned the ball over on their first two possessions and missed their first four shots while the Camels opened up a 6-0 lead. Right when they needed it however, senior Taylor Lynch(Madison, IN) was there to cut the deficit in half by draining a three pointer. CGA fought to tie the score at 11-11 but entered the 2nd quarter trailing 11-17, plagued by six first quarter turnovers.

In the second, Coast Guard had to use their first timeout after two sunk threes from the Camels brought the score to 23-11. When Mackenzie Hilden(Broomall, PA) drilled two free throws, it represented the first Bear points in nearly five minutes of game time. On two of their next three possessions, Olivia Wright(Midlothian, VA) followed suit, earning her way to the line, making three of her four, and getting the offensive rebound on her one miss.

At the half, CGA trailed by a more than manageable 10 points, despite adding seven more turnovers in the second quarter and shooting just 14.3% from the field as a team in the half. They were kept in the game thanks to winning the battle on the glass, out rebounding the Camels 31-23 in the first half.

In the second half, the Bears came out moving the ball with purpose and efficiency. Guards Georgia Pauli(Tiburon, CA) and Elliot Geer(Jay, OK) found forwards Mackenzie Hilden and Colleen Finnegan(Dover, PA) for layups on their first two possessions of the half. CGA kept themselves within reach with two Taylor Lynch made jumpers but as the clock ticked under five minutes to go in the third quarter, the Camels took off, opening up an 18 point lead that they would take into the final quarter. 

In the fourth, the Bears would cut their deficit down to as few as 13 but could not keep Conn out of the scoring column enough to reach single digits and threaten the Camels, ultimately falling by a score of 66-44.

The Bears were paced by Elliot Geer, who fought from tip to final whistle and led the squad in rebounds(7) and assists(6), while adding five points. The team's leader in points was Olivia Wright with 12, followed by Taylor Lynch with seven, and both Georgia Pauli and Colleen Finnegan with six. Anna Gredell(Fair Haven, NJ), gave 17 strong minutes off the bench, coming down with six rebounds.

The loss drops Coast Guard back to .500 at 4-4. They will host Albertus Magnus this Thursday December 11th at 7:00 PM.