STANDISH, ME - Bates College improved to 6-1 by defeating Saint Joseph's (6-5) 73-59 on Tuesday evening at the Harold Alfond Center. Carolyn Freeman '10 (Scarborough, ME) Meghan Daigle '10 (Grantham, NH) both scored a game-high 17 points in the loss. Val Beckwith ‘09 (Woburn, MA) netted 15 points to pace four Bobcats who reached double figures.

Daigle led the Lady Monks out of the gate by scoring four points in the opening three minutes to lift the Royal Blue to an early 8-1 advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Bobcats roared back in the next six minutes with a 17-2 run to gain an eight-point lead, 18-10, with 11:21 to play in the first half. Bates forward Lauren Yanofsky ‘10 (Belmont, MA) tallied four points, two assists and two steals during the offensive surge.

With the help of 21 bench points and 14 points off turnovers, Bates managed to cling to a lead of at least six points for the remainder of the opening stanza and took a 38-27 lead into the break.

Bates led by as much as 19 points in the second half, but the Lady Monks battled their way back into the contest in the waning minutes. Freeman hit a pair of jumpers and Casey Drake ‘11 (Lebanon, NH) made all four of her free throw attempts to help the Lady Monks post a 13-3 run and cut the Bobcats' lead to six points, 63-57, with 3:05 to play.

With the pressure on, Bates forced three turnovers and produced a 10-3 run in the final two minutes to seal the 73-59 victory.

For St. Joe's, Allison Miner 10 (Pembroke, NH) and Ashley Geel ‘12 (St. George, ME) both scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds. Over half of Daigle's points came off a 9-11 performance from the charity stripe.

For the Bobcats, Yanofsky netted 13 points, four assists and three steals, Kelsey Flaherty ‘12 (South Portland, ME) added 11 points and seven boards and Kristen Finn ‘12 (Winthrop, MA) scored 10 points. Jessie Igoe '11 (Lexington, MA) recorded three blocked shots and Christine McCall ‘11 (Lowell, MA) collected eight caroms.

Neither team was successful from long distance, as St. Joe's was 1-10 on three-point attempts and Bates went 2-14 from beyond the arc in the game. The Bobcats forced 24 SJC turnovers and held a slight advantage in both rebounding (41-38) and shooting percentage (39.7%-35.3%) in the victory.

Saint Joseph's will next travel to Key Largo, FL to participate in the Key Largo Classic Tournament and will play Cedar Crest College (PA) on January 3rd. Bates College will travel to South Padre, TX to play in the South Padre Island Shootout and will face off against Lynchburg on December 20th.

Newspaper Box Score
Bates College vs Saint Joseph's College (Me.)
12-16-08 5:30 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
BATES COLLEGE 73, SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 59
BATES COLLEGE (6-1)
Val Beckwith 6-15 3-7 15; Lauren Yanofsky 5-10 3-4 13; Kelsey Flaherty 2-3
7-9 11; Kristen Finn 4-7 0-0 10; Kellie Goodridge 4-7 0-0 8; Annie Burns 2-2
0-0 4; Christine McCall 1-7 2-2 4; Jessie Igoe 0-1 4-4 4; Lauren Dobish 1-2
1-2 3; Maggie DePoy 0-8 1-3 1; Amanda Gifford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 21-31
73.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (6-5)
Carolyn Freeman 6-11 4-5 17; Meghan Daigle 4-15 9-11 17; Ashley Geel 3-8 0-0
6; Allison Miner 2-7 2-2 6; Kayla Boston 2-3 0-0 4; Casey Drake 0-0 4-6 4;
Erin Cartwright 1-3 1-2 3; Alysn Ludwig 0-2 2-4 2; Sarah Fournier 0-0 0-0 0;
Kayla Nowell 0-0 0-0 0; Megan McDevitt 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 22-30 59.
Bates College................. 38 35 - 73
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 27 32 - 59
3-point goals--Bates College 2-14 (Kristen Finn 2-4; Kellie Goodridge 0-3;
Maggie DePoy 0-4; Val Beckwith 0-3), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 1-10
(Carolyn Freeman 1-4; Meghan Daigle 0-3; Ashley Geel 0-1; Kayla Boston 0-1;
Megan McDevitt 0-1). Fouled out--Bates College-Jessie Igoe; Val Beckwith,
Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Bates College 41 (Christine
McCall 8), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 38 (Allison Miner 7; Alysn Ludwig 7;
Ashley Geel 7). Assists--Bates College 15 (Lauren Yanofsky 4), Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 13 (Kayla Boston 3; Erin Cartwright 3). Total
fouls--Bates College 22, Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 19. Technical
fouls--Bates College-None, Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None. A-150