Women's Basketball - Fast Start Leads WPI Past Bears
Melissa Martinelli led the Bears with 18 points and six rebounds.
WORCESTER, MASS.--(1/23/10)--WPI jumped out to a 23-2 lead and the Engineers cruised to a 59-40 win over Coast Guard in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game.
WPI (11-6, 7-3) scored the first ten points of the game, six of those by junior Elle Fontaine, before junior Allison Majcher got the Bears on the board with 15:01 left in the first half, that would be the Bears only points until a 3-pointer by sophomore Rebekah Seifer with 8:51 left in the opening half made the score 23-5.
Coast Guard (4-9, 3-7) was just one of nine from the floor to start the game while WPI hit on eight of 14 to build the 23-2 advantage with 9:40 left in the half. The Bears also turned the ball over 12 times in the opening 11 minutes.
The Engineers shot 48 percent from the field (12-25) in the first half and led 35-10. Coast Guard shot 20 percent in the opening half (4-20) and turned the ball over 17 times.
Fontaine led the way with 10 first half points while freshman Caitlin O’Connor had eight points in the opening half for WPI.
Senior Melissa Martinelli, the NEWMAC’s leading scorer, led the Bears with five points and five rebounds in the first half, but also picked up three fouls.
Coast Guard would get as close as 15 in the second half at 55-40 on a Martinelli’s first career 3-pointer with 2:22 left.
The Bears shot much better in the second half hitting on 11 of 20 (55 percent) from the floor and finished shooting 38 percent in the game (15-40). Coast Guard was three of 11 from 3-point range.
WPI shot 40.8 percent from the field (20-49) and connected on three of 14 from behind the arc
The Engineers outrebounded the Bears 30-26. Coast Guard turned the ball over 28 times while WPI turned the ball over 20 times.
Fontaine and O’Connor each had 15 points to lead WPI while sophomore Lauren Hannmann led the Engineers with five rebounds.
Martinelli finished with a game-high 18 points and a team-high six rebounds for Coast Guard which has dropped five straight.
