STANDISH, ME – Bates College (10-9, 3-4 NESCAC) utilized a second-half surge to defeat Saint Joseph's (12-8, 6-2 GNAC) by a 77-58 margin in a non-conference women's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening. Junior forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, Maine) came off the bench to net a team-high 18 points in the loss.
Prior to this evening, Saint Joseph's had won 16 consecutive contests at home with the last loss coming at the hands of University of New England on December 10th, 2011. The Monks closed out the 2011-12 season with nine straight home wins and began this season on a seven-game winning streak at the Alfond Center.
Saint Joseph's played well in the first half and parlayed a solid 43.8% (14-32) shooting effort into a 35-32 halftime advantage, but the Bobcats proceeded to outscore the hosts by a 45-23 line in the second stanza on the way to securing a 77-52 victory. The Monks did not help their cause by making just six field goals in 26 attempts from the floor in the latter half.
The opening frame featured seven lead changes and was tied on five occasions, but the closing period saw the lead trade hands only once as Bates kicked off the latter half on a 13-0 run and held a 45-35 cushion after junior guard Julia Rafferty (Reading, Mass.) capped the burst with a layup at the 16:15 mark.
Saint Joseph's managed to cut the deficit to four points (45-41) over the following 80 seconds, but would get no closer to the lead as the Bobcats posted a 24-6 outburst. Senior forward Taryn O'Connell (Georgetown, Mass.) closed out the visitors' surge with a jumper to lift Bates to a game-high 22-point (69-47) advantage with 4:55 remaining.
Led by Young's 18-point effort, the Monks' bench outscored the Bobcats' reserves by a 30-18 tally, but Bates made up for the discrepancy by netting 29 points off 21 Saint Joseph's turnovers.
For the Monks, freshman Morgan Cahill (Yarmouth, Maine) scored 10 points and rejected a pair of shots, senior Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, Vt.) added nine points and three assists and junior Lindsay Moore (Barrington, N.H.) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Young was 5-5 from the free-throw line and added eight rebounds to her stat line and sophomore guard Sarah Assante (Standish, Maine) chipped in eight points in a losing effort.
Senior guard Allie Beaulieu (Swampscott, Mass.) paced the Bobcats with a game-high 19 points and dealt five dimes and O'Connell recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 caroms while shooting 4-6 from downtown for the visitors. Senior center Brianna Hawkins (South Portland, Maine) scored 10, sophomore forward Allaina Murphy (Poland Spring, Maine) contributed nine points and seven boards in nine minutes off the bench, and Rafferty and junior guard Meredith Kelly (Cohasset, Mass.) netted eight points apiece in the non-conference triumph.
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 12-14 in the history of the series with Bates College. The Bobcats have now defeated the Monks in eight straight meetings dating back to the 2002-03 campaign.
St. Joe's returns to action on Saturday when the Monks host Emmanuel College in a rematch of the 2012 GNAC Championship at 1:00 PM. Bates travels to Amherst College on Friday night for a NESCAC tilt slated to start at 8:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
