Coast Guard advances to ECAC finals
March 8, 2008
Fitchburg, Mass. - Top-seeded Coast Guard Academy outscored Endicott College 41-24 in the second half, punching their ticket to the ECAC final with a 56-39 victory over the Gulls in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III New England Tournament Saturday afternoon at Fitchburg State's Recreation Center.
The Bears (24-5) will advance to the ECAC final where they will meet No. 3 Fitchburg State, which defeated Nichols College in the other semifinal matchup. The Bears and Falcons will tipoff Sunday at 1:00 pm. Fitchburg owns a record of 20-8.
Coast Guard was led sophomore forward Melissa Martinelli (Vero Beach, FL/Sebastian River), who poured in a game-high 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed six rebounds and had a pair of steals. Senior guard Natalie Moyer (Oklahoma City, OK/Bishop McGuiness) put home 14 points and had two steals for the Bears, while senior forward Corinne McCormack (Havertown, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) added a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds).
The Gulls, who finished their season at 19-10 overall, were led by sophomore forward Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, MA/Lexington) and her eight points and nine rebounds. Senior forward Paris Sanders (Needham, MA/Minuteman Tech) added seven points and 10 rebounds while junior forward Nicole Young (Rockland, MA/Cardinal Spellman) and junior guard Nicole Duchesne (Plaistow, NH/Central Catholic) each put home six points in the loss. Young also had two blocks and four rebounds while senior guard Aubrey Drugan (Salem, NH/Bishop Guertin) pulled down 10 rebounds.
Both teams had trouble shooting the ball in the first half as the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime knotted at 15-15. The Gulls shot 20.0 percent from the floor in the first half while Coast Guard managed just 16.7 shooting from the field in the first. However, the Bears were 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) in the second half compared to Endicott's 11-for-35 (31.4 percent) shooting in the second half.
The Gulls also owned a 56-37 rebounding advantage but they turned the ball over 19 times compared to just 10 turnovers for the Bears. Endicott also went 0-for-10 from three-point land while Coast Guard connected on five of their 26 chances from long range.