LEWISTON – The Bates College women’s basketball team shot 53.1 percent from the field and received 17 points apiece from Val Beckwith and Jessie Igoe in an 88-61 non-conference victory over University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday afternoon.
The visiting Beavers, playing for the first time since Nov. 25, dropped to 2-3 on the season while the host Bobcats moved to 5-1.
Caitlyn Laflin scored 17 points for Farmington, while Ashley Busque (14), Jillian Ross (12) and Erin Porter (10) also scored in double figures for the Beavers. Amanda Byrne handed out 8 assists and Brittany York hauled in a game-high 9 rebounds.
Bates led 41-29 at the half, led by Lauren Yanofsky’s 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Igoe’s 10 points on 5-6 shooting. Farmington briefly held the lead at 13-12 with 13:21 to play, but Bates scored 10 unanswered points over the next three minutes to seize the lead for good. Yanofsky started the run with a steal and a layup, followed by a 3-pointer by Maggie DePoy, then another Yanofsky layup and a second DePoy three, putting Bates ahead 22-13 with 10:12 to play in the half.
Farmington hung in and cut it the lead to 6 on a layup and a three by Laflin, but Bates increased its lead by outscoring the Beavers 17-11 over the final 8:26 of the period. A Beckwith steal led to another Yanofsky layup to make it 41-29 at the half.
Igoe opened the second period with a pair of foul shots and a jumper, sandwiching a Laflin three, and Annie Burns turned a steal into a layup by Beckwith for a 47-32 lead with 17:48 left. Bates kept the lead in the teens for most of the second half, but put the Beavers away down the stretch, outscoring Farmington 21-7 over the final 8 minutes and 52 seconds of the game. Burns canned two straight threes during the run, en route to a career-high 10 points, and Kristen Finn finished off the scoring with another pair of threes in the final 2:17 of the game. Bates shot 16-28 (57.1%) in the second half.
The Bobcats outscored the Beavers 48-18 in the paint and 36-17 in bench points.
Igoe’s 17 points were a career high, and the sophomore forward added 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in her finest game as a Bobcat. Bates racked up 28 assists out of 34 field goals, with Burns (5), Beckwith (5), Kellie Goodridge (5) and Lauren Dobish (4) doing the most dishing. DePoy and Amanda Gifford contributed 9 and 8 points, respectively.
Farmington will play host to Thomas College on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 5:30.
