Babson's 85-game NEWMAC win streak snapped

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Brittney Zimmerman

BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Torie Sutherland (Houston, Texas) poured in a game-high 23 points, and junior Brittney Zimmerman (Lewistown, Pa.) scored 17 points to go along with a game-high eight assists as visiting Coast Guard snapped Babson College's 85-game New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) winning streak with a 71-65 victory on Wednesday night at Staake Gymnasium.

Senior Kaitlin Ward (Saline, Mich.) chipped in with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Bears, who are now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

Junior Erin Young (Westwood, Mass.) led the Beavers with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while sophomore Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) added 12 points and four rebounds. ClassmateKristen Ferola (Amherst, Mass.) recorded 10 points and eight rebounds, and first-year Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) came off the bench to score eight points, grab seven boards, and dish out three assists.

The Beavers started fast as Young buried three of her four three-pointers in the opening 4:32 to take a 12-9 lead. Coast Guard rallied though, ripping off an 11-3 run to grab a lead that they would not relinquish. Junior Dani Knox (Centerville, Va.) hit a layup following a timeout, and after one free throw by Ferola, Zimmerman buried the first of her three three-pointers to go ahead 14-13. The teams then traded scores before junior Jamie Waterman (Jasper, Ga.) and Sutherland scored back-to-back buckets to put the Bears in front 20-15 with 7:47 left in the period.

Coast Guard pushed its first-half lead to as many as seven following a three-pointer from sophomore Meghan Fornaro (Charlton, Mass.) with two minutes left in the stanza, but three points from sophomore Megan Otto (Scituate, Mass.) helped the Green and White pull within 28-24 at the break.

After trailing by as many as eight early in the second half, consecutive hoops from Otto and juniorNikki Heavern (Hull, Mass.) trimmed the Babson deficit to just 43-39 with 12:12 remaining in the game. Unfortunately, the Bears answered with a 12-2 spurt to take control of the game.

Zimmerman buried a three-pointer and Ward followed with a layup two possessions later to go up 48-39. Heavern converted a layup for the Beavers, but Sutherland answered with a triple, followed by hoops from Ward and Knox to give Coast Guard its biggest lead of the game at 55-41 with 7:08 to go.

Babson made a late push, scoring on seven of its next nine possessions, which included a three-pointer from junior Lindsey Roche (Arlington, Mass.) and a three-point play from Ferola on back-to-back possessions to get within 62-58 with 2:36 left in the game. Sutherland made a pair of late jumpers and the Bears knocked down three late free throws, though,  as Coast Guard handed the Beavers their first NEWMAC loss since February 18, 2009.

The Green and White shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor, while the Bears finished the game at 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field and held a slim 36-35 edge on the glass.