Women's Hoops Drops Season Opener at Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College women's basketball team opened the 2012-13 season with a 76-36 loss at the Coast Guard Academy on Thursday night.

Coast Guard's Meghan Fornaro led all scorers with 18 points while Victoria Sutherland added a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Bears gave head coach Alex Ivansheck her first collegiate win in the season opener for each school.

Kaitlin Ward scored all nine of her points in the first half as Coast Guard led 39-17 at the break. Fornaro had an outstanding collegiate debut hitting six of nine from the floor, while hitting all three shots from 3-point range.

The Bears dominated the glass as they outrebounded Mitchell 69-30 with 35 offensive boards in the win. Larla Brown added 11 rebounds to go with her five points for the Bears, who shot 32.9 percent from the field (26-79) and made 7 for 16 from 3-point range.

Senior Kaylee Cerruto and sophomore Zilka Navarro each had 11 points to lead the Mariners while freshman Amanda Garcia pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Mitchell shot 13-of-54 from the floor (24 percent) while going 3-for-13 from three-point range.

Mitchell returns to action this weekend at the Judges Classic. The Mariners will play host Brandeis University on Saturday, November 17 at 2 p.m.