By Henry Kolani '27
LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Elsa Daulerio gave Bates fans a moment to remember Saturday afternoon as she put a shot up with the buzzer sounding, and the Bobcat faithful watched it go in to give the women's basketball team their first win over Tufts since 2010. The Bobcats prevailed 62-60 and remained undefeated in both NESCAC play and in the friendly confines of Alumni Gym.
Bates (16-2, 4-0 NESCAC) led by as many as eight in the fourth quarter, only to see the Jumbos (10-6, 2-2 NESCAC) tie the game on a Samantha Sousa layup with 0.8 seconds left in regulation. The Bobcats immediately called timeout, allowing them to advance the ball. Junior Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) executed a play from the far sideline the team had just gone over for the first time that morning in walk-through, delivering a perfect pass to Daulerio in the right block on the near side. Daulerio caught the ball and found no one between herself and the hoop after a Tufts defender fell over, making an open layup off the window for the win.
The Bobcats have won seven in a row and are 4-0 in NESCAC play for the first time in program history.
Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) had the game-winning bucket, but she had another big night beyond that, scoring a team-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds to help lead Bates to victory. Long and senior captain Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) turned in superlative performances, scoring 12 and 13 points respectively. Both were key contributors on the defensive end as well, with Long tallying four blocks and Kennedy swatting a pair of shots. Senior captain Davina Kabantu (Portland, Maine) had herself a big game, scoring seven points on 3-5 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Bobcats held Tufts to 35 percent shooting. Meanwhile, Bates shot 46.4% from the floor.
It was a battle of the centers to start the game, with Daulerio and All-American Maggie Russell trading points for the Bobcats and the Jumbos in the early going. Russell led all players in points in the first quarter with 10, while Daulerio finished the first quarter with six points, propelling Bates to an early 19-16 lead by the quarter's end.
Alongside the inside threat of Daulerio, it was the guards Long and Kennedy who provided the early offensive spark for the Bobcats, with their five and six points respectively in the first quarter.
The tone of the game shifted in the second quarter, with Bates able to pull away slightly through their tenacious defense. Tufts was unable to score their first points of the quarter until there was only 5:15 left on the clock, and the 'Cats were able to hold Tufts to 28.6% from the field. This allowed Bates to hold off the Jumbos by the end of the first half, leading by a score of 33-28.
Even without scoring in the first quarter, Kabantu battled her way to an impressive stat line in the first half, scoring five points on 50% shooting from the field, also tallying five rebounds, an assist, and a block.
Coming out of the half, Russell continued to be the only consistent source of offense for Tufts, but her efforts were canceled out through Bates' ability to restrict the Jumbos' spacing and force heavily contested shots.
Bates was able to run the game at their pace throughout the contest, forcing crucial turnovers and moving the ball around well. As the game turned into the final stretch, the offenses started to click, with both teams scoring 20 points in a physical and entertaining fourth quarter..
A pair of key three-pointers from Sophia Gonzalez brought Tufts to within two with 4:06 left in regulation. The game remained nip-and-tuck down the stretch, but a technical foul on Russell with two minutes remaining was also her fifth personal foul, forcing Russell out of the game. She finished the afternoon with a game-high 24 points on 10-19 shooting and 10 rebounds.
Despite missing their best player, the Jumbos still were able to catch the Bobcats down the stretch, before Daulerio's heroics unleashed pandemonium at Alumni Gym.
The Bobcats return to action at Middlebury in NESCAC play this Friday at 7pm.