NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team suffered a 58-64 setback on Saturday at the hands of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Coast Guard fought back from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter, but the Crusaders were able to eek out the win in the fourth.

The Bears drop to 7-6, while Mary Hardin-Baylor improves to 5-13. UMHB will complete their trip to New England on Monday, January 12th, at the University of Saint Joseph in Hartford (3-10).

Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.) had 22 points to lead the Bears, netting 16 in the second half, while Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) added 18 to go with four steals and a team-high three assists while playing all 40 minutes. Elliott Geer (Grove, Okla.) was gritty down low with 13 rebounds, with eight coming from the offensive glass.

The Crusaders were powered by a dynamic two-way effort from Josie Bruder, who had 21 points and six rebounds alongside two blocks and three steals. Rachel Okoye showed versatility outside of the points column with seven rebounds, a game-high six assists, and four steals. Natalia Galven led UMHB down low with nine boards.

A slow start caused by pesky defense from the visitors had Coast Guard trailing, 22-29, at halftime. Mary Hardin-Baylor held their hosts to 25.8% (8-for-31) from the field and 2-for-15 on three-pointers over the first 20 minutes while recording seven of their eventual 11 steals.

A bounce-back third quarter saw the Bears outscore UMHB, 23-16, with Wright leading the charge late. After a Bruder three-pointer at 3:21, Stotts responded on the other end with a triple of her own, and Wright found net from long-range on her team's next possession to cap a fastbreak off of a Crusader miss. The sequence sparked a 13-4 run for the Bears to close the half, capped by a Ruby Miller (Bethlehem, Pa.) three which gave the Bears a 45-43 lead with 42 seconds left before UMHB converted a layup to send the it into the fourth tied.

Back-to-back layups Karlee Cronk opened the fourth for the Crusaders, but the Bears stayed nipping at the heels. After Wright tied it at 52 with 5:34 left with another three-ball, UMHB scored seven unanswered in response, all for Stotts to close a six-point run for the Bears at 1:03 with another trey to make it a one-point game. The game came down to free throws, and after Natalia Galvan made one from the line to extend her team's lead to two points with 20 seconds, a miss on her second clanked off of the rim and over the heads of the Bears defenders before it was chased down by Okoye for what proved to be a pivotal offensive board.

FULL BOX SCORE

Bears women's hoops will return to action on Tuesday, January 13th, to host Amherst College (9-3). The two programs last faced each other in the 2022 Gordon Classic, a meeting the Mammoths won by a score of 70-42. This year's Amherst squad was ranked #19 the most recent d3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll and #22 in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Coaches Poll.