NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team was defeated by visiting United States Coast Guard Academy, 79-50, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons dip to 12-11 overall and 2-6 in NEWMAC play, while the Bears have won four of their last five and improve to 12-10 and 4-3. 

Coast Guard shot 47.7% (31-65) for the game, including 69.2% (9-13) in the second quarter and knocked down 41.2% (7-17) of its three-point tries for the game. The Bears also owned a 41-31 margin in rebounding. Wheaton shot 36.4% (20-55) for the evening and was held under 36% in each of the first three quarters of play. 

First year guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) netted 18 points to lead the Lyons in addition to grabbing five rebounds, coming up with four steals and handing out three assists. Classmate Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) contributed with 10 points on 5-9 from the floor, five rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot and sophomore guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) finished with nine points, five rebounds, four assists and a game-high five steals.

Sophomore forward Glory Blethen (Boothbay, Maine) posted a double-double of a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead USCGA. Blethen recorded her third double-double of the season and added two steals, a pair of blocks and an assist. Sophomore guard Julia Mann (Central Square, N.Y.) enjoyed an outstanding shooting effort with just one miss on the night, going 5-6 from the floor, including a perfect 2-2 from three-point range and converted all seven free throw attempts to give her 19 points in addition to nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Kelly Hagerty (Emerald Isle, N.C.) also represented for the visitors' sophomore class with 10 points, three rebounds and an assist in 12 minutes off the bench. 

Wheaton grabbed an early 6-2 lead through the first three and a half minutes of play, including four from Fernandes, but the Bears ripped off 14 straight points to take a 16-6 advantage with 54 seconds left in the opening quarter. Hagerty scored eight points to fuel the run that put the Lyons on their heels for the rest of the evening.

Walters made a layup with five ticks left in the quarter to pull Wheaton to within 16-8 before the end of the quarter that saw the home team turn the ball over nine times.

Walters canned a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 18-13 with 8:25 showing on the second quarter clock, but it was as close as the Lyons would get for the remainder of the contest.

Coast Guard put together a 20-6 run to close out the quarter, behind eight points from Mann and seven from senior guard Jacqueline Ward (Brant Beach, N.J.), and take a 38-19 lead into the intermission.

The Bears continued their hot shooting in the third quarter, knocking down 56.3% (9-16) of their shots and opened the period with a 16-3 run to take a 54-22 lead with 4:55 to play in the quarter. Blethen netted six points and Mann added five during the stretch.

Sophomore guard Riley Sprague (Jamestown, R.I.) drilled a three and Walters converted a reverse layup to give Wheaton some life and close to within 54-27 at 3:45. First year guard Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) drained a trifecta with 80 seconds left in the quarter to give Coast Guard a 62-29 cushion. 

The Lyons scored the last four points of the quarter to make it 62-33 before the start of the fourth period.

Walters knocked down her second trey of the night to pull Wheaton to within 68-43 with 6:31 left in the game, before the Bears reeled off nine unanswered points to increase their lead to 77-43 for their biggest margin of the game.

The Lyons closed out the game with a 7-2 burst to set the final at 79-50.

Wheaton returns to the court on Saturday, February 11 for its Senior Day against NEWMAC rival Wellesley College at 1:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium, while Coast Guard returns to conference play on the same day when it hosts Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 3:00 p.m.