Yanofsky, Beckwith lead women's hoops past Norwich
January 3, 2009

Lauren Yanofsky's 18 points and 12 rebounds made for her second career double-double.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Senior Val Beckwith scored 19 points and junior Lauren Yanofsky played perhaps the best game of her career, with 18 points and 12 rebounds, as the Bates College women's basketball team defeated Norwich University 84-70 Saturday night at the Williams College Winter Classic. The Bobcats will face Williams tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the tournament championship game.

Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.) scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in the second half of the game, as the Bobcats (8-2) extended their halftime lead of 36-33 to as many as 19 points en route to the 14-point final margin. Her scoring and rebounding totals both represented season highs, and the double-double was the second of her career.

The Cadets (5-3) outrebounded the Bobcats 43-37, but Bates shot 53.3 percent from the floor for the game, including 57.6% (19-33) in the second half, while Norwich was held to 37.7% shooting for the game.

Bates led wire to wire, with a jumper by Beckwith starting off the scoring. The Bobcats extended their lead to as high as 11 in the first half, going on a 10-2 run to take a 10-7 lead into a 20-9 advantage, punctuated by a three-point play by junior Kellie Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) and capped by a three-pointer from sophomore Maggie DePoy (Chicago, Ill.). But the Cadets cut it back to three twice in the half, powered in the period by 6 points apiece from Jess Jaggars, Christine Daniels and Laurel McWilliams. Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) registered 12 points and 5 rebounds in the first half and Goodridge added 7 of her 10 points in the game.

Norwich cut the Bates lead to one with a pair of free throws and a hoop by Ally Daniels. But Bates put together a 12-2 run for a 48-35 lead with 15:55 left in the game, with two hoops by Yanofsky and four free throws by Beckwith, who was 10-10 at the foul line in the game, while also grabbing 6 rebounds and making 3 steals. Bates kept its lead in double digits the rest of the way.

Ally Daniels scored 14 points and dished out 4 assists to lead Norwich, while Jaggars scored 8 points to go with a team-high 9 rebounds. Christine Daniels and Tara Stevenson chipped in with 8 points apiece.

Sophomore Christine McCall (Lowell, Mass.) submitted 6 points and 7 rebounds for Bates. Other contributors included sophomore Jessie Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) with 8 points, first-year Amanda Gifford (Lee, Maine) with 7 points and first-year Annie Burns (Topsfield, Mass.) with 6 points and 3 steals.

STATS: Bates 84, Norwich 70