United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Women's Basketball

SOUTH HADLEY, MASS.--(1/23/08)--Sophomore Melissa Martinelli piled up game-highs of 20 points and eight rebounds to propel Coast Guard to a 66-46 win over New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe Mount Holyoke College. It was the Bears fifth straight win and first over the Lyons since the 2003-04 campaign.

Coast Guard is now 12-2 overall and in first place with a 5-0 record in NEWMAC play.

Three players reached double digits in the scoring column for Coast Guard, which shot 43.1% (22-51) from the floor and 76.5% (13-17) from the charity stripe. The Bears controlled the glass, outrebounding the hosts 39-25. They drained nine shots from beyond the arc. Senior Corinne McCormack finished with 13 points and seven boards, while senior guard Natalie Moyer added ten points, six rebounds and a game-best four steals. Coast Guard also received a boost from senior guard DeCarol Davis, who contributed nine points, seven boards and a season-high seven assists.

Mount Holyoke converted 40.3% (19-47) of its attempts from the field and made three treys. Senior Marisa Barone paced the Lyons with team-highs of 17 points and seven rebounds. The hosts also received solid production sophomore guard Erin Cain, who knocked down a pair of 3-pointers en route to 14 points.

Coast Guard scored the first ten points of the contest and led 25-13 at the 3:32 mark of the opening frame. Refusing to go away, Mount Holyoke responded with an 11-2 run to close out the half. A layup by Amber Sinicrope in the waning second of the period sliced the deficit to 27-24.

The Bears expanded their cushion to seven points (35-28) with 12:34 remaining in regulation, but a layup by Cain and three-pointer by Olson brought the Lyons to within two points (37-35) just over one minute later. From there, it was all Coast Guard. The visitors outscored Mount Holyoke 29-11 down the stretch to pull away.

Martinelli notched 14 of her 20 points after the intermission to help preserve her team’s perfect record versus conference opponents this season. The win also ended Coast Guard’s eight game slide in head-to-head meetings with Mount Holyoke.