Box Score NEW LONDON, Conn. – The sixth seeded Wheaton College women's basketball team fell 68-61 in the quarterfinals of a thrilling New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament game to the third-seeded Bears of the Coast Guard Academy.
Wheaton (17-9) had beaten the Bears 64-49 in the only meeting during the regular season on Dec. 5th and the Lyons knocked Coast Guard out of the NEWMAC tournament last year with a 85-74 win in the semifinals. Coast Guard (16-10) will take on second-seeded WPI in the NEWMAC tournament semifinals on Saturday at top-seeded Babson at 7:30.
Senior Kiley Shoemaker had game-highs with 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks while classmate Rebecca Arnone added 15 points in the final games of their careers for the Lyons.
Senior Meghan Fornaro finished with a team-high 19 points for the Coast Guard. Junior Gill Gerton added 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Bears before fouling out while sophomore Jill Bray had 12 points and six rebounds in the win. Fornaro also had four assists and a game-high five steals.
It was a slugglish start for both teams as Wheaton missed it first ten field goal attempts while the Bears made just one of their first eight.
Alyssa Almario's three-pointer with 4:31 left in the first quarter gave Wheaton a 6-2 lead. The Lyons would score the final four points of the quarter to lead 14-10 after one.
The Bears made just one of their first seven shots in the second quarter and trailed 19-14 following a free throw by Shoemaker with 6:56 left in the first half.
Coast Guard would use an 8-2 run to take the lead 22-21 on a pair of free throws by Bry with 4:43 left in the half.
Wheaton led 27-26 at the break as Shoemaker led the way with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the opening half.
Fornaro, who had just four points in the first half, scored all nine points for the Bears during a 9-3 spurt as Coast Guard turned a 41-38 deficit into a 47-44 lead with 3:19 left in the third quarter. The game was tied 52-52 after three quarters.
Almario hit a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter before Coast Guard ran off seven straight capped on an offensive rebound and put back by junior Bekah Muller for a 59-55 lead with 6:57 left. A huge blocked shot by Muller followed by another Muller layup with 4:40 left kept the lead at four, 61-57.
Gerton pushed the Coast Guard lead to 63-57 on a layup with 3:28 left to close an 11-2 Bear run. Wheaton made just one field goal in the final 6:23 as the Bears advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season.
