Junior Mollie Gage poured in a game-high 21 points and hauled in -12 rebounds to lead Connecticut College (7-10) to a 56-53 victory over the Coast Guard (7-11) at Luce Fieldhouse Wednesday night. Freshman Casey Thran chipped in with 13 points and 10 boards en route to her eighth double double of the season. Junior point guard Mary Bushnell netted 14 points for the Camels in the victory. Amy Harmel led the visiting Bears with 16 points. Holly Bucheit netted 14 points and point guard Kira Peterson dished out eight assists to go with her 11 points.
Bushnell had the hot hand early on for Connecticut College, shooting 6-for-9 in the opening half. The Camels had their largest lead of the half at 34-26 after a Bushnell jumper with 61 seconds remaining. But the Bears scored the final five points of the half, including a deep three from Peterson with three seconds remaining. The Camel lead was 34-31 at the break. Connecticut College opened the second half with a 14-to-2 run. The one-two inside combo of Gage and Thran combined for the first 10 points of the half. A lay in from Thran capped the rally with 11:24 to play and the Camels enjoyed a 48-33 lead.
The Bears still had plenty of life and executed a 14-to-2 spurt of their own to cut the Connecticut College lead to a single point at 54-53 with 1:34 to go. Holly Bucheit netted two clutch field goals to key the run. In the closing minutes, the Camels inside strength was too much for the Bears. The Camels held possession for 1:13 after three consecutive offensive boards and Gage canned a clutch 16 footer from the baseline with 21 seconds left to push the lead back to three at 56-53. The Camels defense held off the Bears in the final seconds of the contest to secure the 56-53 victory. The win was the seventh of the season, equaling the combined win total of the previous two years for head coach Laura Hungerford.
###