The Blue opened with a 5-0 run, including a trey from
Robyn Burleson (Seattle, WA), but the Bears
quickly trimmed the lead to 7-6 with two buckets from Karli
Collins (Delavan, WI). Wellesley pushed the lead
back to 14-8, but seven unanswered points from Coast Guard,
including four from Melissa Martinelli (Vero
Beach, FL), gave the visitors a 15-14 lead with 11:30 remaining in
the half.
Martinelli quickly added seven more, stretching the Bears' lead
22-16, but Wellesley answered with back-to-back threes from
Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA) and Elisha
Orama (Miramar, FL) to tie the score at 22-22 with 6:14
left. The teams traded buckets until the final minute of the
half, when a three-pointer from Burleson and a driving layup from
Malia Maier (Torrance, CA) gave the Blue a 33-28
lead at the half.
The teams played back and forth basketball in the opening
minutes of the second half, until a trey from Laura
Barrett (Dobbs Ferry, NY) gave the Blue a 41-34
lead. Barrett followed with another three after four
scoreless minutes to extend the lead to 10 points with 11:55
remaining. Four free throws from Martinelli chipped away at the
Blue lead, but a Wellesley lay-up from Maier kept an 8-point
advantage at 46-38.
Midway through the period the Bears surged with a 7-2 run,
including a trey and jumper by Rebekah Seifer
(Christiansted, St. Croix), to close the gap to 48-45 with 6:41 to
go. Wellesley answered immediately with a three from Burleson to
regain a six-point lead. Martinelli followed with a conventional
three-point play for the Bears to return the margin to three at
51-48 with 5:06 on the clock. The Bears put up four more points,
including a trey by Vanessa Sillman (Larkspur, CA)
to round out the game, but Wellesley used a balanced offense to
maintain its lead, cruising to a 67-53 victory.
Martinelli lead the Coast Guard offense with 27 points and eight
rebounds, while Collins put up six points and 10 rebounds for the
Bears. Maier and Burleson tallied 14 points each for the Blue.
Becca Kimball (Weston, MA)added 11, and Martore
chipped in 10 to go along with five assists.
Both squads return to action on Saturday, February 6, at 2:00
p.m., when Wellesley travels to MIT and the Bears host Smith.
