SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy women's suffered a 47-62 loss at the hands of Springfield College on Wednesday night in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. A cold start in the first quarter while the hosts flourished proved to be the big setback on the night for the Bears.

Coast Guard drops to 10-10 on the season and 2-4 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield improves to 12-8 and 3-3 in each regard. The Pride will host another league foe in the form of Wheaton College (5-14, 1-4) for their next one on Saturday, February 7th.

Coast Guard was led in scoring by Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.), who overcame a slow first half to finish with 18 points while recording six rebounds and three steals. Joining her in double digits was Olivia Wright (Midlothian, Va.), who was close to double-double territory with 12 points and eight rebounds while adding a team-high four assists and two steals to her line. Also of note was a career-high 13 rebounds for big Mackenzie Hilden (Broomall, Pa.), who also logged a career-high 26 minutes.

Carrie Hess led the Pride in scoring with 15 points, Natalie Lucas had 12 while recording a steal and two blocks, and Amanda Leary picked up a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Springfield started hot, building a 12-2 lead over the game's first five minutes before extending it to 34-16 by halftime. Coast Guard was held to 20% shooting through the first 20 minutes, while the Pride were successful on 41.2% of their attempts from the floor.

The Bears chipped away during the third quarter and some of the fourth, and they found themselves cutting the Pride lead to ten on multiple occasions. With 4:42 left to play, Wright finished through contact on a driving layup and converted the and-one free throw to make it a 42-52 game. Almost a minute later at 3:59, Stotts responded to a Madison Lopez three-pointer with a triple of her own to put the score at 45-55. Stotts once again erased a Springfield bucket at 1:47 by scoring on the drive. The Pride regained control and closed it out by scoring the final five points of the game.

Bears women's basketball is set to return to Alumni Gymnasium to host Emerson College (12-8) this Saturday, February 4th. The Bears are set to honor their four-woman senior class of Stotts, Lynch, Peterein, and Hilden prior to tip-off.