Women's Basketball - Martinelli's Monster Second Half Leads Bears
Melissa Martinelli had 29 points in the second half and finished with a season-high 32 points in the win.
NEW LONDON, CONN.--(2/2/10)--Senior Melissa Martinelli had a huge second half as she erupted for 29 of her season-high 32 points in the final 20 minutes as Coast Guard snapped its eight-game losing streak with a 64-47 win over neighbor and rival host Connecticut College in a non-conference game.
Coast Guard scored a season-high 64 points and beat Conn. College for the fourth straight season.
Martinelli, who also had a game-high 13 rebounds, was just one of two from the floor with three points in the first half as she played just 11 minutes with two fouls, but she was unstoppable in the second half as she scored 17 of the Bears first 20 points and scored back-to-back baskets to open the second half giving the Bears a 22-14 edge with 18:50 left. She was eight of 12 from the floor in the second half to finish 9 for 14 for the game.
Conn. College (8-13) used a 9-1 run capped by a 3-pointer by senior Emily Cummings to tie the game 23-23 with 16:15 left.
Coast Guard (5-12) then used a 21-5 run over the next eight minutes, 15 of those points by Martinelli and six by senior Carin Sweeney, as the Bears took a commanding 44-28 lead with 8:04 left in the game.
Freshman Vanessa Sillman had a career-high 11 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds while Sweeney had career-high 10 points while grabbing 11 rebounds.
In the first half, Sillman had a pair of hoops in an 8-0 run as Coast Guard opened up its largest lead of the half at 16-7 with 10:03 left in the first half. The Bears made 7 of 14 from the floor in the opening ten minutes while the Camels were just three of 20 to start the game.
Coast Guard would however miss its final 12 field goal attempts of the first half, but Conn. College only outscored the Bears 7-2 in the final ten minutes of the half. Coast Guard led 18-14 at the break.
The Camels were just five of 30 (16.7 percent) from the floor in the first half and one for nine from 3-point range while Coast Guard was seven of 26 (26.9 percent) in the opening half including one of five from behind the arc.
The Bears were 18 for 49 from the floor (36.7 percent) while making one of eight from 3-point range.
Conn. College shot just 25 percent from the field (18-72) while making six of 24 from 3-point range.
