LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Ariana Dalia and senior captain Melanie Binkhorst both recorded double-doubles and the Bates women's basketball team surged past the Connecticut College Camels in the fourth quarter to prevail 63-56 Friday night at Alumni Gym in NESCAC action.
Dalia (Brick, N.J.) matched fellow sophomore Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) with a game-high 17 points. Dalia also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, dished out three assists, recorded a game-high three steals and blocked a shot. She managed to avoid fouling out down the stretch, providing the spark the Bobcats (11-10, 2-5 NESCAC) needed.
With Bates trailing 51-45 and 7:19 remaining in regulation, Dalia reentered the game with four fouls to her name. Bates outscored the Camels (7-13, 2-5 NESCAC) 18-5 from that point on, with Dalia scoring four of those points to go along with three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. Graff, the NESCAC's leading scorer, tallied seven points down the stretch as her counterpart, the NESCAC's second-leading scorer Sami Ashton, dealt with foul trouble of her own.
Ashton converted a three-point play with 6:15 left to put Conn. College up 54-47, the Camels' biggest lead of the game.
Junior Taylor McVeigh (Hanson, Mass.) scored the next three points for Bates before Claire Gulbin gave the Camels a 56-50 lead on a layup with 4:51 remaining.
The Camels didn't score after that, with Bates ending the game on a 13-0 run.
Binkhorst (West Hartford, Conn.) made a pair of free throws and followed that up with a layup. Graff tied the game with 2:25 left on a layup as well. Then Dalia's jumper from three throw line with 1:30 left put Bates ahead for good.
The Camels called multiple timeouts down the stretch, but nothing stopped the Bobcats' momentum. A Graff layup with 39 seconds to go extended the lead to four. Then Dalia and Graff sealed the game at the free throw line.
Binkhorst's double-double featured 11 points and 10 rebounds. First-year Jenna Berens (Durham, Conn.) chipped in eight points on 3-4 shooting off the bench and sophomore Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) scored seven points and dished out a game-high five assists.
Ashton led the Camels with a game-high 22 points on 8-20 shooting. Dana Muckstadt added 11 points, including a made three-pointer from half court at the end of the first quarter. And Gulbin finished with 10 points on 4-14 shooting.
The game was very close from start-to-finish with neither team leading by more than seven points. Friday's contest featured nine ties and 14 lead changes.
Bates dominated on the glass, tallying 51 rebounds to the Camels' 29. The Bobcats notched 17 second-chance points to the Camels' two.
The game stood tied at 31 at halftime, after the Camels out-scored Bates by two in the first quarter and both teams played tight defense in a second quarter that saw Bates out-score the Camels 12-10.
The Camels went up 47-43 late in the third quarter on a pair of Ashton free throws before Graff answered with a layup, making the score 47-45 in favor of the Camels entering the final 10 minutes of action.
Connecticut College scored the first four points of the fourth quarter before Dalia returned to the game and everything changed.
It's the first time Bates has defeated Connecticut College since the 2010-11 season. The win improves the Bobcats' record at home to 8-2 on the season, with Trinity coming to Alumni Gym Saturday for a 3pm tip.