Women’s basketball opens with win over Rhode Island College
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| Val Beckwith ’09 led all players with 16 points and 14 rebounds. |
SALEM, Mass. — Val Beckwith had a game-high 16 points and a game- and career-high 14 rebounds in leading the Bates College women’s basketball team to a season-opening 58-39 victory over Rhode Island College Friday afternoon in the first round of the Salem State College Tipoff Classic.
Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.), a senior co-captain and two-time All-NESCAC forward, added 3 steals and 3 assists in guiding the Bobcats (1-0) to the win in their season opener. Tomorrow at 5 p.m. they’ll face the host Lady Vikings in the tournament championship game at Salem State’s Twohig Gymnasium. Salem State edged Emerson 75-74 in the day’s second game.
Rhode Island College junior forward Ashley Abrahamson and first-year guard Stephanie Coro led the Anchorwomen (1-2) with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Bates held Rhode Island College to 21 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and 25 percent for the game, offsetting its own struggles from the field. The Bobcats hit 21 of 70 shots from the field in the game, a 30 percent rate.
Junior forward Lauren Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.) and junior guard Kellie Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) added 9 and 8 points, respectively, for Bates. First-year guard Annie Burns (Topsfield, Mass.) dished out a game-high 4 assists to go with 5 points, 3 steals and 3 rebounds. Senior co-captain ShawnRose Lanchantin (Natick, Mass.) contributed 5 rebounds off the bench, as 14 Bobcats received playing time. Bates built a 18-8 edge in bench points.
Coro started the scoring for the Anchorwomen by hitting a three-pointer in the opening minute, but the Bobcats responded with nine unanswered points on a hoop by sophomore Jessie Igoe (Lexington, Mass.), assisted by Burns, followed by a Beckwith layup, a three by Goodridge and a jumper by Beckwith, who had 9 rebounds in the opening period. Rhode Island College answered with a 7-2 run, but Bates took the lead for good with 8:19 left in the first half, when Yanofsky ended a two-minute scoreless span for both teams by draining a three to make it 14-13 Bates.
STATS: Bates 58, Rhode Island College 39
Read the season preview story for Bates women’s basketball