Coffin leads women’s basketball past Washington College
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| Meg Coffin ’08 scored 17 points with 7 rebounds as Bates built a big first-half lead. |
NASSAU, Bahamas — Meg Coffin scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Bates College women’s basketball team to a 73-54 victory over Washington (Md.) College Thursday at the Bahamas Sunshine Shootout.
Coffin (Westford, Mass.), who made her season debut yesterday after missing nearly 1 1/2 seasons due to a knee injury, staked Bates (4-3) to a 44-24 halftime lead with 17 points and seven rebounds in the first half, while the Bobcats outscored the Shorewomen (4-5) 32-8 in the paint in that period. The former All-America center shot 9-15 from the floor and 5-5 at the line in the game and added three steals, three blocks and three assists in the game.
Coffin is now up to 993 career points, and will reach for the 1,000-point plateau when Bates plays William Paterson University at Springfield College on Jan. 3.
Bates junior Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) added 17 points, three steals and three assists for Bates and joined Coffin on the All-Tournament Team. Sophomore Kellie Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) added 10 points and three steals, while senior Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) handed out seven assists.
Bates led the game wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 9-0 lead, with a layup by Coffin starting off the game and a three-point play by Coffin bookending the initial run. The Shorewomen closed the gap to as little as two points at 15-13, but the Bobcats closed out the half with a 21-4 run, beginning with another Coffin three-point play and featuring nine points by Beckwith.
Bates didn’t let up in the second half, answering an initial three-pointer by Jessica Jamrogowicz with a 16-3 run for a 30-point advantage (60-30) with 13:37 left in the game.
Jane O’Donnell led Washington with 16 points, while Brianne Slizaofski added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Also pitching in solid performances for Bates were senior Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) with six points and six rebounds, and first-year Jessie Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) added eight points and five rebounds.
After the holiday break, Bates travels to Springfield College for the Holiday Inn Naismith Classic, where they’ll play William Paterson on Jan. 3 at 3 p.m., followed by a game the following day against either Springfield or Wesleyan.