NEW LONDON, CONN.—Senior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) scored a career-high 29 points and visiting Babson College used a 12-0 run early in the fourth quarter on its way to defeating the Coast Guard Academy, 68-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Tuesday night at Roland Hall.

Babson, which has won three straight games, is now 12-2 overall and 6-0 in league play, while Coast Guard drops to 2-11 overall and 0-5 in the NEWMAC with its 11th straight loss.

Pickering was 9-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-12 at the free throw line to go along with five rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Beavers. Senior Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) added a season-high 11 points, nine rebounds, six steals and five assists, while classmate Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) finished with 10 points and three steals.

Sophomore Micaela Martinelli (Vero Beach, Fla.) knocked down five three-pointers and led the Bears with 16 points and six rebounds, while junior Jill Bray (Glastonbury, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points and five boards.

The Green and White held Coast Guard to just one hoop over the first nine minutes of the game and built a 15-7 lead less than three minutes into the second quarter. Russell and Pickering scored the Beavers' final 12 points of the stanza as the visitors pushed their lead to as many as 11 before settling for a 30-25 edge at the half.

Pickering stretched the margin to 37-27 just over two minutes into the third quarter, but the Bears responded with a 13-4 run to pull within one after consecutive jumpers from Bray. Coast Guard took its only lead of the game at 45-44 on a layup by junior Gill Gerton (Lorton, Va.) with 8:50 to go in the fourth, but sophomore Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) and Pickering knocked down triples to bookend a 12-0 burst that gave Babson a 56-45 lead with 5:06 remaining.

The Bears made one final push, cutting their deficit to 58-55 after back-to-back three-pointers by first-year Zoe Riis-Fallica (Patchogue, N.Y.) with 2:32 to go. Narlee converted on a layup on the Beavers' next possession though, and the Green and White went 8-of-8 from the free throw line over the final 1:09 to close out the win.

Babson shot just 39.7 percent (23-of-68) from the floor, but outscored Coast Guard 16-5 at the free throw line and scored 37 points off of turnovers.

The Bears shot a season-best 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the floor and were 9-of-18 from beyond the arc, but also committed a season-high 36 turnovers.

The Beavers return to action on Thursday when they host Emerson at 4 p.m., while Coast Guard travels to Smith on Saturday at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES
•    Babson is now 32-10 all-time against Coast Guard and has won three in a row against the Bears.
•    The Beavers have won 17 straight NEWMAC regular season games with 12 of the wins coming by double digits going back to last January.
•    The Green and White, which entered the night ranked fourth nationally in rebounding margin, was outrebounded for just the second time this season.
•    Babson has won 10 of its 11 games on the road with the only loss coming by five points at second-ranked Amherst back in November.