NEW LONDON, Conn. – Sophomore Meghan Fornaro had a game-high 19 points leading the United States Coast Guard Academy to a 64-40 win over Mount Holyoke College in a New England Women's and Mens's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game on Wednesday. The Bears improve to 17-5 overall and 12-5 in conference play while the Lyons drop to 5-17 and 2-15 in the NEWMAC.
Juniors Dani Knox (13) and Alexi Howland (10) combined for 23 points off the bench in the win for Coast Guard. Knox had a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Brittney Zimmerman had eight points and now has 989 points in her career. She also had a game-high five assists.
Coast Guard shot 38.5 percent from the field in the win (25-65) while making 9 of 30 from 3-point range.
The Lyons finished 16 of 58 from the field (27.6 percent) and made two of 15 from behind the arc.
Mount Holyoke, which trailed 30-15 at the break, made a run early in the second half, keyed on back-to-back 3-pointers by junior Kate Karraker, to cut the deficit to 35-27 with 17:15 left in the game. Coast Guard would however respond with a 9-2 spurt, as Fornaro knocked down a pair of treys and Zimmerman added one of her own and the Bears led 44-29 with 14:05 left.
The Bears led 48-35 with 11:14 left and scored the next 12 points to put the game away opening up a 60-35 lead with 5:16 left.
Junior Amber Legare had a double-double leading Mount Holyoke with 17 points and 11 rebounds. It marked her 12th double-double of the season, while sophomore Genelle Green added ten boards for the Lyons.
The Bears used a 9-0 run to break a 4-4 tie taking a 13-4 lead following a 3-pointer by sophomore Meghan Fornaro. Coast Guard used a 10-2 spurt later to open up a 23-9 lead following a pair of free throws by senior Kaitlin Ward with 7:23 left in the first half.
The Bears led by as many as 17 in the first half, 28-11 with 3:25 left in the half. Coast Guard led 30-15 at the half. The Lyons were 6 of 27 from the field in the opening half (22.2 percent) and missed all six from behind the arc. Coast Guard shot 35.3 percent from the floor in the first half (12-34) and made 3 of 14 from 3-point range.
Coast Guard is back in action on Saturday when they travel to Smith for a 2 pm tipoff. Mount Holyoke is also in action on Saturday at 1pm when it hosts Emerson.
Game story courtesy of Bill Mullins, Coast Guard Athletic Communications. Photo courtesy of RJB Sports Photography.
