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DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Nazareth met Coast Guard in a non-conference women's basketball game Sunday afternoon in the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Bears used a 17-3 scoring run in the final five minutes of the first half to pull away from the Golden Flyers, and Coast Guard went on to defeat Nazareth 75-60. Juniors Lindsey Kelly and Julia Brew led the Golden Flyers' offense with 20 points and 17 points, respectively.

Following the loss, Nazareth drops to 3-4 overall. The Golden Flyers will look to end their four-game losing streak Monday when they play Wesleyan at 12 p.m. With the victory, Coast Guard improves to 3-4 overall.

A three-point basket by Brew extended Nazareth's early lead, 7-2, only 2:46 into regulation. Brew's basket followed a layup by senior Melissa Reeves and Kelly. After the Bears cut into the Golden Flyers' advantage, junior Colby McCartney connected on another shot from outside the arc to reclaim Nazareth's five-point lead, 12-7. Coast Guard answered with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game just 1:20 later. Neither team was able to stretch their lead to more than four points until the final five minutes of the stanza when the Bears used a 17-3 scoring run to take a 45-29 lead at the break.

In the opening 20 minutes, Coast Guard shot a torrid 57 percent (16-28) from the field and connected on nine free throws to build its lead. Nazareth, meanwhile, converted 43 percent (12-28) of its field goal attempts and hit nearly 57 percent (5-9) of their three-point attempts. The Golden Flyers' 12 turnovers hurt their offensive rhythm and provided the Bears with extra possessions and easy baskets.

Coast Guard's Alexi Howland opened the second period with a shot from outside the arc to continue the Bears' momentum, and it ignited a 13-5 run to give Coast Guard a 58-34 lead with 12:39 to play. Over the next 10 minutes, the Golden Flyers rallied to bring their deficit to within single-digits, 68-60, with 2:39 to play in regulation. Kelly ignited the 26-10 scoring run with a layup and recorded 12 additional points during the run on three layups and six free throws. Senior Hannah Runyon added a pair of free throws and a layup while junior Sam Sorge connected on a layup and one free throw. Brew capped the run with her fourth three-pointer of the game. On the Golden Flyers' following possession, Brew had a great three-point shot opportunity to trim Nazareth's deficit to only five points, but her attempt was off the mark.

The Bears secured the victory by connecting on 7-8 free throw opportunities in the final 1:32 and holding Nazareth scoreless following Brew's final three-point bucket.

The Golden Flyers' defense held Coast Guard to only 30 percent (9-30) shooting from the field in the second half while Nazareth converted 36 percent (9-25) shots. The Golden Flyers made 86 percent (12-14) of their free throws. Similar to the first half, the Golden Flyers also hurt themselves with turnovers as they committed 11 in the second half. For the game, Coast Guard scored 20 points off Nazareth's 23 turnovers while the Golden Flyers recorded eight points off the Bears' 14 turnovers.

Kelly's eight rebounds helped Nazareth record a 36-32 advantage in total rebounds. Runyon also had six boards while Sorge and Brew each grabbed five. Reeves finished with eight points as she connected on 4-5 field goals. Sorge added five points, Runyon had four, and McCartney and junior Veronia Peck chipped in three apiece.

Meghan Fornaro amassed a game-high 27 points, and Torie Sutherland had a game-high nine rebounds for Coast Guard.

Following the Land of Magic Classic, Nazareth travels to Oswego on January 4th before opening its Empire 8 Conference schedule at Houghton on the 6th. The Golden Flyers return to Nazareth for conference games against Hartwick and Stevens on the 9th and 10th, respectively.