The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NEW LONDON, CONN.--New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Player of the Year candidate Natalie Moyer led all scorers with 22 points to go with her season-high 13 rebounds and game-high five steals as second-seeded Coast Guard beat seventh-seeded Clark 56-43 in the first round of the NEWMAC tournament.

Coast Guard (22-4), which advances to the semifinals for just the second time in the 10-year history of the NEWMAC, will now play third-seeded Springfield in the semifinals at top-seeded Wheaton on Saturday at 3 p.m. The championship game will be at Wheaton on Sunday at 1 p.m. Wheaton will host fourth-seeded WPI in the first semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Junior Sarah Roderigue made a pair of free throws to give Clark an early 10-6 lead with 11:51 left in the first half before Coast Guard used a 21-4 run to take a 27-14 lead with 5:56 left in the first half. The Bears led 33-23 at halftime.

Graduate student Jess Lamothe's basket with 6:49 left in the game pulled the Cougars to within five at 44-39 with 6:49, but that would be as close as Clark would get in the second half.

Sophomore Melissa Martinelli added 14 points while senior Corinne McCormack tied a career-high with seven assists for the Bears.

Roderigue led Clark (8-17), which turned the ball over 29 times, with 15 points and a game-high 18 rebounds despite shooting just 3 for 19 from the floor.

Coast Guard shot 30.8 percent from the floor (20-65) and 23.7 percent from 3-point range (9-38) while Clark shot 28.3 percent from the field (15-53) and just 2 of 16 from 3-point range (12.5 percent).

Clark outrebounded Coast Guard 51-35 including 18 offensive rebounds.

Senior Natalie Moyer Leads Coast Guard Past Clark 56-43 in NEWMAC Tournament