SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College basketball team celebrated Senior Day for five seniors on Saturday in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, before the U.S. Coast Guard Academy came away with a 60-21 NEWMAC victory despite a hard-fought effort by the Lyons in the regular-season finale.
Four senior Lyons, as well as team manager Kayla Scott-McDowell, were honored before the opening tipoff, and the day carried added emotion as the final game for head coach Jackie Ward, who announced earlier this month that she will no longer coach the team after the season. Playing their final games in a Mount Holyoke uniform were seniors Isabel Cordes (Yorktown, Va.), Teal Howle (Florence, S.C.), Nicole Lutalo (Kampala, Uganda), and Emily Mock (Bangor, Maine), all of whom made the start along with junior captain Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.).
Mock, who has been out of action this season with an injury, started at guard in her final game and made an undefended layup with a pass from Howle, after which the Lyons called timeout to substitute first-year Emma Goff (Cohasset, Mass.) for Mock, who came off the floor to enormous applause from the stands and from teammates. The game resumed with Coast Guard guard Kira Wood making a matching undefended layup, to essentially start the game off with a 2-2 tie and a show of sportsmanship.
Coast Guard scored the next six points to take an 8-2 lead, but Mount Holyoke charged back with a 9-0 run to seize an 11-8 lead. A layup by Howle and back-to-back baskets underneath by sophomore Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.), with assists by Howle and Cordes. Cordes then found Berano for a 3-pointer and the lead.
Coast Guard responded in kind, however, finishing out the quarter with 11 straight points and a 19-11 lead.
After shooting 5-for-18 (.278) from the field in the first quarter, the Lyons' shooting went cold, and Mount Holyoke finished the game 9-60 (.150). Coast Guard shot 25-70 (.357) for the game.
The Bears (19-6, 8-3 NEWMAC) finish the regular season in fourth place in the NEWMAC standings. Mount Holyoke finishes with a 2-23 record, 0-11 in conference play.
Kelly Haggerty scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Coast Guard. Wood added 11 points to go with three assists and three steals. Glory Blethen was held to two points by the Lyons but grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked five shots.
White finished with a team-high seven points for Mount Holyoke, to go with six rebounds. Goff also had six rebounds to go with two steals.
Howle finished with four rebounds and two assists and Cordes pitched in a pair of assists and a rebound. Lutalo grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added a steal in her farewell game.
