NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team fell to host United States Coast Guard Academy, 84-65, this afternoon to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate at Roland Hall in New London, Conn.

The Lyons' four-game win streak comes to an end as they dip to 8-7 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Bears have won seven of their last eight to improve to 12-3 on the season, including 1-0 in the NEWMAC.

Coast Guard was outstanding from the floor, shooting 48.5% (33-68) from the field and committed just 10 turnovers. Wheaton owned a 46-37 rebound margin, but committed 21 turnovers. The Lyons were held to just 37.7% (26-69) from the floor, including 26.7% (4-15) from three-point range. Wheaton was excellent from the line, converting 81.8% (9-11) from the line.

Sophomore forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Lyons with 15 points and added five rebounds in 21 minutes of action, while classmate Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) netted 13 points on 4-8 shooting and 5-6 from the free throw stripe to go with two rebounds and a pair of steals. Junior guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) contributed with 10 points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Junior forward Glory Blethen (Boothbay, Maine) led five Bears with double-digit scoring efforts, scoring 22 points on an efficient 9-13 from the field in addition to grabbing six rebounds, coming up with two steals, rejecting two shots and handing out an assist. Senior guard Kira Wood (Seattle, Wash.) netted 17 points, pulled down five boards and dished out four assists, while sophomore guard Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) dropped in 16 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Junior guard Julia Mann (Central Square, N.Y.) led all playmakers with six assists to go with 10 points, eight rebounds, five steals and a blocked shot.

Coast Guard never trailed in the game and scored the first six points of the afternoon. The home team later increased its lead to 11-4 following a free throw from Stotts to complete a three-point play at the 7:16 mark of the opening quarter. Wheaton scored the next five points, including a three-pointer from sophomore guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) to pull the visitors within 11-9 with 5:41 to go in the first quarter. It was as close as the Lyons would get for the remainder of the contest. The Bears responded with five unanswered points of their own to restore a seven-point advantage at 16-9 with 3:25 showing in the first period. 

The Lyons cut the deficit to 18-14 after a pair of Walters free throws at 2:46, but Coast Guard closed out the quarter with a 7-2 run to take a 25-16 lead into the second quarter.

Sophomore guard Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.) knocked down both of her free throws to increase the home team's cushion to 29-16 with 9:09 left in the second quarter. Wood converted a layup to maintain a 32-20 lead for the Bears, before Wheaton ripped off six straight points, including four from Walters to cut the margin to 32-26 at 4:23 of the quarter. Coast Guard put together a 13-5 stretch, capped by a triple from Wood to give the Bears a 45-31 lead with 41 ticks left in the opening half. Keyter scored the final two points of the half for the Lyons to make it 45-33 at the intermission.

Walters buried a jumper 51 seconds into the third quarter to cut the deficit to 45-35 for Wheaton, but the Lyons were unable to cut the margin below double-digits the rest of the way. Coast Guard expanded its advantage to 55-39 at 5:33 with Blethen scoring five points during a 10-4 burst. The Bears maintained a healthy lead for the remainder of the quarter and took a 65-52 lead after a Blethen layup with 87 seconds to go in the third quarter.

Wood scored the first seven points of the final quarter for Coast Guard to give the home squad a 72-54 advantage with 6:35 showing on the fourth quarter clock. First year guard Aniyah Boston (Linden, N.J.) and Duwe each canned a three-pointer to pull the Lyons to within 72-60 with 5:43 remaining in the contest, before seven straight points, including five from Mann, gave the Bears their largest lead of the afternoon at 79-60 with 3:09 left to play.

Both teams return to play on Wednesday, January 17 at 7:00 p.m. Wheaton hosts Mount Holyoke College in conference action at Emerson Gymnasium, while Coast Guard travels to Springfield, Mass. to take on NEWMAC foe Springfield College.