For Immediate Release
February 3, 2010
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Marks Third Straight Victory with Win Over Coast Guard
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley basketball matched a second-half surge from the visiting Coast Guard Academy to snag its third consecutive home win with a 67-52 win over the Bears on Wednesday evening. The Blue improve their record to 7-11, 5-8 in the NEWMAC. Coast Guard falls to 5-13 overall, 3-10 in conference play.
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.
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