READING, Penn. --

In their first game of 2026, despite shooting woes early and foul trouble late, Coast Guard fought their way to a 62-53 win in a truly gutsy effort. Both CGA and Albright struggled to find anything offensively in the early going with the Lions taking a slim 7-5 lead into the second quarter. In that first quarter, the teams combined for six turnovers, 0-9 from beyond the arc, and 4-38 from the field. 

The highlight of the first for the Bears came three minutes into the action on a Dorothy Stotts(Edina, MN) score. The Stotts pull up jumper was a pleasant sight for Bears fans all around, with the senior star missing time recently due to injury but fighting her way back into the lineup today. Stotts picked up right where she left off, scoring over 20 points to lead the Bears to victory.

In the second quarter the CGA offense woke up, shooting at a 44.4% clip. Their strong shooting led to the Bears taking a 22-17 lead into halftime. Albright stuck around and stayed within reach thanks to dominance on the glass, particularly on the offensive side. The Lions had 35 rebounds to CGA's 27 in the first half, 18-8 offensively. In the third quarter, the Bears extended their lead to as many as 13 points but ultimately entered the fourth with the same five point advantage they had at the half. 

After closing out the third on a run, the Lions kept their momentum flowing into the final quarter. They tied the score at 40-40, the game's first tie since 9-9, and got the ball right back after an offensive foul. When Coast Guard fouled again, Albright took the line and with it took their first lead since the second quarter at 41-40. The Bears would retake the lead thanks to Mackenzie Hilden(Broomall, PA) and Anna Gredell(Fair Haven, NJ), both of whom had freshly checked into the game and made their presence felt immediately. The hard-nosed Gredell fought for an offensive rebound and found Hilden in the paint who made a layup and converted the three point play after getting fouled. 

As the game clock trickled under five minutes to go, Albright again found themselves with the lead but the Bears would take the advantage back when Taylor Lynch(Madison, IN) found Stotts open from three, where the senior has been punishing opponents for the last four years. After the key Stotts three, CGA would extend their lead to four on the charity strip with Olivia Wright(Midlothian, VA) making one, and Lynch making two. The Lions answered with a three pointer, just their second of the game, to cut the Bear lead back to just one with under three minutes remaining. Coming up clutch in her home state of Pennsylvania, Mackenzie Hilden drilled three free throws and came down with some big rebounds as the game entered the final minute with the Bears leading by three. 

In the first possession of the final minute, Albright made two free throws but Coast Guard answered immediately when a hustle play to save the ball from going out of bounds backfired for the Lions as they deflected the ball right to a wide open Olivia Wright under the basket who converted the layup. They would ride that momentum onto the defensive side of the floor where Taylor Lynch picked off an Albright pass, and got the ball into the steady hands of Dorothy Stotts who the Lions were forced to foul. Stotts, the Coast Guard all-time leader in free throw percentage made not just those two free throws, but two more on their next possession to put her Bears up seven and the game on ice. 

The loss for Albright drops them to 4-7 on the season. They will open up conference play at home on Wednesday January 7th vs Hood at 5:00 PM.

The Coast Guard offense was led in scoring by Dorothy Stotts with 22 points. Joining her in double figures was sophomore Olivia Wright with 14, followed by Mackenzie Hilden with eight. Hilden and Wright paced the Bears on the boards with 10 and nine respectively. Farrah Peterein(Oxnard, CA), Elliot Geer(Jay, OK), and Colleen Finnegan(Dover, PA) had strong performances on the glass as well, combining for 22 rebounds with Peterein and Geer adding two steals a piece. Pacing the way in steals was Olivia Wright with a new career high of four. 

The win for the Bears pushes them back over .500 at 6-5. They will travel to Scranton on Sunday for a 1:00 PM game at Marywood University.