DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Bates women's basketball team put on a defensive clinic in a 53-46 win over Wisconsin Lutheran Wednesday afternoon at the Daytona Beach Shootout.

It's the fewest points scored by the Warriors (5-4) in one game this season. The Bobcats (9-1) held the Warriors to 30 percent shooting on the day, with Wisconsin Lutheran only connecting on 1-15 from three-point range.

Sam Leisemann, the Warriors' star post player, entered the contest averaging 19 points per game, good for 41st in the country. Led by sophomore center Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine), the Bobcats held Leisemann to a season-low five points on 1-8 shooting.

Bates senior captain Davina Kabantu (Portland, Maine) led all scorers with a career-high 14 points on 5-12 shooting. She also hauled in seven rebounds and tallied a steal. Daulerio finished with nine points, eight rebounds, and two blocked shots. Senior captain Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) added seven points on 3-6 shooting and four rebounds. Junior Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) turned in another balanced effort, with six points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. 

The Bobcats led wire-to-wire on Wednesday. Kabantu got Bates on the board with a jumper, scoring with 8:04 left in the first quarter, which started a 7-0 run to begin the game. A jumper from first-year Sarah Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) made the score 13-2 in favor of Bates with 2:23 remaining in the opening quarter of action. Hughes finished with six points on 2-4 shooting, three rebounds, and two assists.

Lexy Smit answered with a three on the other end to cut the Bates lead to 13-5. Smit led the Warriors with nine points on 4-7 shooting.

The Bobcats led 15-7 after one quarter. But their offense struggled in the second quarter as the Warriors outscored them 11-9, trimming the lead to six on a Smit layup with 57 seconds left until halftime.

Up 24-18 at intermission, the Bobcats turned in their best offensive quarter of the afternoon in the third, tallying 16 points to Wisconsin Lutheran's nine. Kabantu's layup with 21 seconds left extended the lead to 40-27. 

An old-fashioned three-point play from Daulerio with 6:40 remaining in regulation gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game, at 45-31.

But the Warriors answered with a 9-0 run, cutting the Bobcat advantage to five on a Haley Ott layup with 3:22 left on the clock.

Kennedy provided the answer, hitting a tough shot off the glass in the lane with 2:18 remaining to put Bates up 47-40. The Bobcats made 6-9 at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win. Bates was 10-15 at the line overall in the contest, and the Bobcats hit 5-11 from three-point range.

Both teams played outstanding defense, as Wednesday's win marks the fewest points scored by Bates in a victory since the 2022 NESCAC championship game against Amherst. The Bobcats dominated the glass, tallying 47 rebounds to the Warriors' 32. 

The Bobcats are back in action Thursday at 3pm when they take on St. Vincent to wrap up the Daytona Beach Shootout.