Fresh off their outright sweep of CBB play last weekend, the Bates women’s basketball team returned to action over the weekend to take on a pair of Connecticut schools.
On Friday night, the Lady Cats squared off against Connecticut College. Despite another big game from senior Allie Beaulieu, Bates came up short in a 70-61 defeat.
After trailing 38-29 at the half, the Bobcats ran off a 9-0 run to start the second half behind a three pointer from senior Taryn O’Connell and jumpers on three consecutive possessions from junior Meredith Kelly.
The game remained close until the thirteen-minute mark, when a 10-0 Camel run blew open the game for good.
Consecutive threes by Beaulieu and O’Connell helped cut the lead to just three with under five minutes remaining, but the Camels were able to hold on the rest of the way.
Beaulieu led all scorers with 21 points for the hosts, while also dishing out six assists. O’Connell, Kelly, and sophomore Molly Brown all had ten points.
The Lady Cats were back in action on Saturday night against Wesleyan, for perhaps the most exciting game of what has been a successful season for the women’s basketball program.
As they did on Friday night, Bates went into halftime trailing, albeit by a slim 41-40 margin. The second half was more of the same even play; neither team led by more than four points, and the lead changed hands seven times in the half.
With the score tied at 78 apiece and time winding down, senior Brianna Hawkins corralled a Molly Brown miss and beat the buzzer with a layup to lift the Cats to a thrilling 80-78 victory.
O’Connell said that the loss to Conn on the previous night “made the Wesleyan game a must-win for us, and [Hawkins] made a huge play.”
The game-winner saved what had been an otherwise quiet night for the senior center; Hawkins finished with four points and two rebounds in the win. She also had a crucial block with less than thirty seconds to play in regulation that gave the Bobcats the final possession.
Sophomore Molly Brown, Bates’ leading scorer, continued her hot streak by exploding for 27 points on 8-13 shooting. Brown also grabbed nine rebounds on the night to lead all players.
Meredith Kelly had 23 points of her own, shooting 6-11 while hitting 11 of 12 free throws in an aggressive night for the junior.
Senior Allie Beaulieu couldn’t keep up her hot shooting from the previous game, but made up for it with seven rebounds and three assists.
By splitting this weekend’s games, the women’s team moves to 9-8 on the season, with a 3-3 record in conference play. They currently stand fifth in the conference, one spot away from hosting a home playoff game.
The Lady Cats will host Tufts on Saturday at 4 PM.
