Bates women put scare into No. 1 Bowdoin, 58-50
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| Sarah Barton ’08 put on an outstanding all-around performance, with seven points, seven assists, 10 rebounds and two steals. |
LEWISTON, Maine — The Bates College women’s basketball team put a scare into the No. 1 nationally ranked Bowdoin Polar Bears Tuesday night, but Bowdoin prevailed with a 58-50 non-league win Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.
Bowdoin senior Eileen Flaherty set the Bowdoin career scoring record while putting up game highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Polar Bears (20-1), who won their first regular season game on Bates’ home court since February 2004. Flaherty’s layup late in the first half gave her seven points in the game, passing the previous school scoring mark of 1,670 points set by Laura Schultz.
Bowdoin first-year Leah Rubega (Norwich, Conn.) added 15 points and six rebounds, and sophomore Jill Anelauskas (Medfield, Mass.) chipped in 10.
Bates (11-8) sophomore Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) was the only Bobcat player in double figures, with 11 points. Junior Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) flirted with a triple-double with seven points, seven assists and 10 rebounds. Junior Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) added eight points and eight rebounds and first-year Kellie Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) added six points and a season-high eight boards.
A 7-2 run gave Bates a five-point lead at 17-12, capped by Barton’s defensive rebound and full-court pass to senior Katie Franklin (New Preston, Conn.) for a layup. But Bowdoin finished the half with a 14-0 run over the final five minutes for a 30-21 edge at the half.
The Polar Bears extended their lead to 15, at 37-22, with 15:12 left in the game, but Bates began chipping away, starting with an 8-0 run that featured a pair of layups by first-year Lauren Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.). Bowdoin built the lead back up to 11 at 46-35 with 8:00 left to play, but Franklin’s three-pointer sparked an 8-2 Bates run that cut it to 48-46 with 4:08 left in the game. However, the spurt was interrupted when Kostakis landed awkwardly after hitting a layup under the boards and fell to the floor in obvious pain. Kostakis was limping under her own power after the game, with an ice bag wrapped around her left ankle.
Bowdoin hurt Bates on the offensive boards late in the game, no more so than when Rubega stole a rebound off a Flaherty miss at the foul line and converted the layup to put Bowdoin back up by four, at 50-46. A jumper by Barton off her own miss made it 52-50 with 2:04 to play, but Flaherty followed her own miss at the other end to make it 54-50 with 1:47 to play. The Bobcats missed their final five shots from the floor in the last two minutes as Bowdoin walked away with the win.
Bates will host Williams in a NESCAC matchup Friday night at 7 p.m.