Bates Bobcats win over Williams’ 72-60

Williams Sports Info - February 11, 2008

WILLIAMSTOWN - The visiting Bates Bobcats (13-8, 3-3) halted Williams’ five game win streak en route to a 72-60 victory at Chandler Gymnasium. Sitting tied for third with Wesleyan College in the NESCAC standings prior to tonight’s contest, the Ephs (15-6, 4-2) have now been bumped down to the fifth position having succumbed their first conference match up in five games.

The Bates squad attacked the Williams two-three zone extremely well, using both their touch from behind the arc and quick passing to their forwards in the paint to keep the Ephs down and out.

Williams’ man-to-man defense did not fare well either, as Bates’ Meg Coffin proved to difficult to contain inside. Coffin tallied a team-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. Her presence on the defensive end was prominent as well, as the Ephs relied mostly on their outside game for points tonight.

Down 15-12 with 12:37 to play in the first half, Williams played their best stretch in the coming minutes and put together a 10-0 run to take a 22-15 lead with 7:38 on the clock. Offensive and defensive inconsistency prevented Williams from keeping their lead, and Bates’ Sarah Barton drained a deep three with a hand in her face to knot the score at 26 apiece with 4:06 left in the first frame. Bates would head into the locker room with a six-point lead, 39-33.

Bates continued to expand their lead and went ahead by as many as sixteen half way into the second period. Williams chipped away at the advantage, coming as close as seven points to the lead at various points in the final ten minutes of play. The Ephs enjoyed a 10-1 run to bring the score to 60-53 following back-to-back pull up three point shots by Mika Peterman. The comeback was short-lived as slipshod ball movement and poor offensive movement plagued the Ephs. With 1:40 on the clock, Williams resorted to fouling but a 10-of-15 effort from the charity stripe by Bates sealed their fate.

Peterman led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, while Taylor Shea notched her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 10 defensive rebounds. Chessie Jackson chipped in 7 points and 9 boards.

Val Beckwith tallied 16 points on the night for Bates, while teammate Sarah Barton added 10 points