LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior forward Nina Davenport recorded game highs with 22 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, leading the Bates women's basketball team to a 60-57 non-conference victory over the visiting University of New England Monday night in Alumni Gymnasium.
Senior Bernadette Connors (Windham, N.H.) scored 14 points, making 5-of-6 shots from the field and all three of her 3-pointer attempts, and added seven rebounds for the Bobcats (2-1), who won their second straight. Junior Emily Freedland (Marblehead, Mass.) pitched in 11 points.
Alicia Brown paced the Nor'easters (3-2) with 14 points and six rebounds. Ashley Coneys scored 11 points and Sam MacDonald and Sadie Nelson added 10 apiece for UNE, which dropped its second straight game after a 3-0 start.
The Nor'easters committed only eight turnovers took advantage of Bates' 22 giveaways with a 19-6 edge in points off turnovers. But Bates used a 44-38 rebounding advantage and made 9-of-22 shots from beyond the arc (.409) while shooting 23-for-53 (.434) from the field. UNE shot 23-for-72 (.319) from the field and 2-for-12 (.167) from deep.
Bates took a 5-4 lead on senior Allie Coppola's (Tarrytown, N.Y.) layup less than three minutes into the game, and the Bobcats never trailed again, although they never grew their lead beyond eight points. UNE tied the contest at 24-24 with 3:00 left in the second quarter with a 6-0 spurt, including four points by Brown and a MacDonald layup that prompted a Bates timeout.
Coneys' layup closed the gap to 47-45 with 8:50 left in regulation before Davenport (Freeport, Maine) and Connors made back-to-back threes to give Bates a 53-45 cushion with 5:59 left. But Brown answered with consecutive layups on assists by Jocelyn Chaput and Coneys.
Chaput fed Nelson for a layup with 1:47 left to close it to 57-55, but Davenport found Coppola open underneath for a layup and a four-point lead with 48 seconds to go.
Bates fans had to sweat out the game's final 48 seconds, which included three Bates turnovers, five UNE fouls, a pair of free throws made by MacDonald with 14 seconds to go and a combined six timeouts for both sides. Coppola was fouled with 4.4 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws for a three-point lead. The Nor'easters called timeout but were unable to get off a final shot.
Bates plays a non-conference game at Husson on Saturday at 2:30pm.