BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Kristen Ferola (Amherst, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while classmate Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) recorded a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 15 boards as Babson College defeated visiting Bates College, 69-58, in non-conference women's basketball action on Friday night at Staake Gymnasium.
With its 10th consecutive victory, Babson is now 18-5 on the year, while Bates slips to 8-14.
Junior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) finished with nine points and seven rebounds for the Beavers, and senior Megan Otto (Scituate, Mass.) added eight points, four boards and two assists.
Senior Chelsea Nason (Boxford, Mass.) scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists to lead the Bobcats. Sophomore Lyse Henshaw (Brunswick, Maine) contributed 13 points, while classmate Nina Davenport (Freeport, Maine) pulled down a team-high 12 boards.
The Green and White got hoops from four different players and raced out to a 10-0 lead just over three minutes into the contest. Sophomore Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) scored in transition to make it 17-6 at the end of one, and Ferola followed with consecutive hoops to push the Beavers' lead to 21-7 just 1:26 into the second quarter.
Babson took its biggest lead of the half at 30-14 on a baseline jumper by Otto and led 36-23 going into the locker room thanks to a late Ferola jumper. The hosts then opened the third quarter with a 7-2 burst to take its largest lead of the night at 43-25 after a putback by Graber with 8:02 to go in the frame.
Henshaw knocked down a pair of triples to key a 15-6 run as Bates pulled within nine on a pair of Davenport free throws with 2:36 to play in the third. The Beavers countered with a 9-2 spurt that included five points from LeGacy to move back in front 58-42 with 21 seconds remaining in the period. The Bobcats twice got within nine early in the fourth, and then closed within 64-56 with 2:46 left in the game on a layup by junior Allie Coppola (Tarrytown, N.Y.), but Babson juniorTaylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) drained a three-pointer from the left wing on the following possession to make it an 11-point game.
The Green and White shot just 36 percent (27-of-75) but finished with a 59-41 edge on the glass and scored 22 second-chance points. The Beavers also outscored Bates 46-26 in the paint.
Babson returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Wheaton at 7 p.m., while Bates takes on Williams in its regular-season finale on Sunday at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers, who picked up their first win over Bates since 2003, are now 10-18 in the all-time series.
• Babson is 7-0 at home on the season and has gone 23-4 at Staake Gymnasium going back to December 7, 2013.
• The Beavers, who shot 81.3 percent (13-of-16) at the foul line on Friday, have shot 70 percent or better at the charity stripe in seven consecutive games.
• The Green and White is 17-0 this season when scoring at least 60 points.