NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team picked up a victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play Wednesday night with an 84-70 defeat of Salve Regina University. Senior guards Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) and Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.) led the way for the Bears, with Stotts going for a new career-high in points and Lynch nearly recording a triple double.

Coast Guard improves to 10-8 overall and 2-2 in league action, while Salve Regina's fifth consecutive loss drops them to 6-12 and 0-4. The Seahawks will get another chance to break their bad luck streak this Saturday, January 31st, when they host Massachusetts Institute of Technology (8-10, 2-2) in their annual Alumni Game.

Stotts dropped 34 points in the victory while shooting 48% from the field, 6-for-13 on three-pointers, and making all four of her free throw attempts. The point total was her fourth 30-ball of the season and the fifth of her career. The senior shooter also added seven rebounds and three assists to her final line.

Stotts' classmate and backcourt partner Lynch made an impact all over the place, getting as close as one could be to a triple double with ten points, nine rebounds, and eight assists to go with her two steals. Fellow senior Farrah Peterein (Oxnard, Calif.) also benefited from a 3-for-5 day from three-point land to finish with 13 points alongside two steals.

Also reaching double-digits was Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.), who reached 12 with a pair of triples and nabbed two steals. Elliot Geer (Grove, Okla.) made her presence known outside of the points column by pulling down five rebounds and picking a game-high four steals.

Leading the Seahawks in scoring was Frankie Spadorcia, who went for 16 points while recording five rebounds, a block, and two steals. Behind her was Sofia Neary with a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double. Neary entered the day averaging a NEWMAC-leading 19.8 points per game, but the Bears limited her to 3-for-18 from the field while she went 7-for-11 at the line.

Coast Guard set the tone early, opening the game with an 18-2 run. Salve cut the lead down to 21-15 by the quarter break, and they hovered around a seven-point deficit until 2:36 to halftime when the Bears closed the first 20 minutes on an 11-1 run, fueled by a pair of threes by Stotts and a long-range make by Ruby Miller (Bethlehem, Pa.).

Salve once again attempted to close the gap, opening the third on an 11-2 run before Stotts took over at 3:48 to score eight of Coast Guard's final 15 points for the quarter and set the score at 61-46 heading into the final period. Stotts kept the heater on to start the fourth, scoring the Bears' first eight points and assisting on a Mackenzie Hilden (Broomall, Pa.) layup. On the Seahawk's next possession, Stotts intercepted a pass and got into free territory for a fastbreak layup to set her new career-high.

Cost Guard held Salve to 34.2% from the field and 3-for-15 on three-pointers, while the Bears shot 46.4% and 14-for-33 (42.4%) from three.

FULL BOX SCORE

Bears women's basketball will return to the court this Saturday for more NEWMAC adversity at Clark (13-5, 4-0), with tip-off slated for 2pm ET. Coast Guard took a strong 75-57 win in last year meeting, which saw Stotts lead the way with 19 points.