Coast Guard Falls In Two Basketball Games

The Coast Guard Academy women's basketball team couldn't recover from a massive lead racked up by Babson College in a Wednesday game, and the Bears' rallies were not enough to get past Worcester Polytechnic Institute on the men's side. The following information was provided by Jason Southard, sports information director at the Coast Guard Academy:

Men's Basketball: WPI 64, Coast Guard 53

Matt Carr and Marco Coppola each scored 12 points as WPI defeated Coast Guard 64-53 on Wednesday evening in the NEWMAC conference opener for both programs.

WPI climbs to 10-2 with a 1-0 record in the NEWMAC standings while the loss sets Coast Guard back to 6-4 with a 0-1 record in conference play.

Scoring was slow for both teams early on, as the first field goal of the game wasn’t made until nearly four minutes into the game, a jumper from the Bears’ Greg Marshall to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The Engineers would respond, however, with a 10-1 run capped off by a layup from Sam Longwell to give WPI an 11-3 lead with 12:26 remaining in the period. The Crimson and Gray gradually built on their lead for most of the half, forcing their trademark up-tempo style on the game.

WPI’s Coppola had the hot hand in the first half, scoring 12 of the Crimson and Gray’s first 23 points. For Coast Guard, Devonte Weems carried Coast Guard in the opening period, scoring 10 of the Bears’ first 15 points and matching Coppola with 12 points.

Rebounding and defense helped spark WPI in the first half, as the hosts enjoyed a 23-14 advantage on the boards and held Coast Guard to 36 percent shooting. Late in the period, Coast Guard went on a 9-5 run capped off by a three-pointer from Marshall with 1:21 remaining to cut the lead to eight. WPI would respond, however, with the last two baskets of the period from David Brown and Jameel Galloway to take a 38-26 lead into halftime.

Early in the second half, the Bears embarked on a 9-2 run including back-to-back baskets by David Anderson to cut the Engineers’ lead to 42-35. The Crimson and Gray would again respond, holding Coast Guard without a field goal over seven minutes and taking a 50-37 advantage led by Carr, who scored nine of his 12 points in the second period.

Coast Guard rallied once again, cutting the lead to 55-49 after a three-pointer by Marshall. But they would get no closer as the WPI defense held down the stretch, with Joe Wesoloski making a layup to beat the shot clock buzzer to give the hosts a ten point lead with two minutes remaining.

Carr, the reigning NEWMAC Conference Player of the Week, had a team-high eight rebounds along with two blocks and a pair of assists in addition to his 12 points despite limited playing time in the first half due to foul trouble.

Coppola filled up the stat line with four steals, four assists and five rebounds behind his 12 points.

Weems led the Bears with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting to go along with three steals. Jimmy Knudsen also had a season-high with 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Marshall finished with nine points with four boards, while Trip Fernandes pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Women's Basketball: Babson 79, Coast Guard 34

Babson College used a 36-6 run to pull away from the visiting United States Coast Guard Academy en route to a 79-34 win in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game.

With the victory, the Beavers, ranked 22nd in the nation by D3hoops.com, extended their league winning streak to 50 games while improving to 9-2 overall and 5-0 in the NEWMAC. Meanwhile, the Bears dipped to 4-5 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

Babson, which closed out the first half with a 13-4 run and then opened the second with a 23-2 burst, received a trio of double-doubles from its vaunted front court.

Senior captain Nicki Wurdeman scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, senior captain Kathleen King netted 18 points and pulled down 10 boards, and junior Sarah Collins chipped in with 10 points and 12 boards. King also contributed team-highs of seven assists and five steals for the Beavers, while Collins blocked five shots and recorded four steals.

Junior Allanah Wynn and sophomore Liz Trainor paced the Babson backcourt with three three-pointers apiece, with Trainor finishing with 10 points and Wynn adding nine points and four assists. The Beavers recorded 14 steals on defense while posting a commanding 52-31 advantage on the boards.

Coast Guard was led by sophomore Kaitlin Ward, who finished with 11 points and three steals, and freshman Dani Knox, who scored six points and collected a team-best 11 rebounds.

Freshman Brittney Zimmerman chipped in with seven points and four assists for the Bears, while freshman Jamie Waterman tacked on six points and five points despite battling foul trouble throughout the contest.

Neither team played well for the majority of the sluggish first half, which featured 23 total turnovers and only 37 combined points.

Leading by only four at 12-8 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the period, the Beavers closed the session with a 13-4 run that gave them a 25-12 lead at the break.

The hosts then put the game away with a dominating start to the second stanza, scoring 11 straight points as part of a 23-2 eruption that inflated their lead to 34 at 48-14. The Bears would get no closer than 31 the rest of the way as Babson coasted to the 45-point victory.