LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's basketball team put on an impressive show in its last home game for over a month. Junior guard Annie Burns (Topsfield, Mass.) led the way with 13 points, eight assists and six steals as the Bobcats coasted to an 86-56 non-conference win over UMaine-Farmington on Wednesday night at Alumni Gym.
Burns tied her career high in scoring to lead five players in double figures for Bates (4-1), which has won four straight games. Senior Christine McCall (Lowell, Mass.) and first-year Meredith Kelly (Cohasset, Mass.) added 12 apiece, while junior Lauren Dobish (Chambersburg, Pa.) and senior Jessie Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) contributed 10 apiece, with Dobish tying her career high with five assists and adding three steals. Sophomore Taryn O'Connell (Georgetown, Mass.) chipped in nine points to go with a game- and career-high nine rebounds.
Kenni Norton led the visiting Beavers (0-4) with 12 points.
Farmington committed 30 turnovers to Bates' 12, 18 of them coming on steals by the Bobcats.
Holding onto an 11-9 early lead, Bates scored 16 unanswered points for a 27-9 lead with 12:55 left in the first period. A buzzer-beating layup by junior Kelsey Flaherty (South Portland, Maine) gave Bates a 50-29 halftime lead, and UMF never again got the deficit under 20 points. Bates led by as many as 35 points in the second period, at 81-46 with 5:22 to go.
Bates next participates in the Paul Bunyan Tournament at Husson University this weekend, with a Friday game against UMaine-Presque Isle (5:30 p.m.) followed by a matchup against UMaine-Fort Kent on Saturday at 1 p.m.