NEW LONDON, Conn.—First-year
Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished with 15 points and junior
Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) scored all of her career-high 14 points in the second half to help visiting Babson College rally for a 68-56 win at the Coast Guard Academy in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Roland Hall.
Babson, which has won two straight games, improves to 8-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Coast Guard, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, slips to 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the NEWMAC.
Junior
Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) scored 11 points, while classmates
Kiara Simone Davis (Coral Springs, Fla.) and
Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) and first-year
Chloe Perreault (Danbury, Conn.) each chipped in with eight points to lead the Beavers. Miller also dished out four assists, while junior
Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds in the win.
Senior Kira Wood (Seattle, Wash.) scored 24 of her game-high 29 points in the first half to pace the Bears. Sophomore Dorothy Stotts (Edina, Minn.) added 10 points and junior Glory Blethen (Boothbay, Maine) dished out six assists in the loss.
The Green and White trailed 40-31 at the half and were down by six early in the fourth quarter before outscoring Coast Guard 23-5 over the final eight minutes. Miller knocked down 2-of-3 free throws and Davis hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 54-49 with 6:52 to go before Flynn put the Beavers ahead for good at 55-54 at the 5:28 mark with back-to-back three-pointers.
Davis scored following a steal by Miller, Flynn drilled another triple and Reale finished off a layup to give the Beavers a 62-54 edge with 2:24 remaining. Mollica knocked down a pair of free throws to cap the 15-0 run as Babson held the Bears to just 3-of-18 shooting in the final period.
The Beavers trailed 16-10 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter before getting four straight points from Reale and a bucket from Silk to to end the period, and hoops from Mollica and Perreault to build a 20-17 advantage with 7:34 to go in the second. Reale knocked down a three-pointer to make it 23-23 at the 5:32 mark but Coast Guard scored on seven of its final 10 possessions of the quarter and used nine points from Wood and five from sophomore Taylor Lynch (Madison, Ind.) to carry a 40-31 lead into the locker room.
The Green and White shot 42.1 percent from the floor and went 12-of-15 at the free throw line, which includes knocking down 8-of-10 attempts in the fourth quarter. The Beavers also outrebounded Coast Guard 45-33.
The Bears shot 51.6 percent in the first half before being held to 23.3 percent shooting (7-of-30) from the floor and just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc over the final two quarters.
Both teams return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Babson hosts WPI while Coast Guard travels to Wellesley.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 39-10 all-time against Coast Guard and have won seven straight on the road in the series.
• Babson is 6-0 this winter and has won its last 13 games when scoring at least 65 points going back to last February.
• The Beavers are 8-2 on the year when outrebounding their opponents.
• Wednesday's win was the first for Babson when trailing after three quarters since January 16, 2023, when defeated Hamilton 71-64 after trailing by four entering the final stanza.
