By: Zach Perbeck

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Bates on Friday night by a score of 63-50. Bates came into the contest with an 11-4 record on the season and was among the leaders in the NESCAC standings.

The game started off slowly for both teams, with neither getting into an offensive groove throughout the first half. The first quarter started with the two teams trading baskets for five minutes before Bates began to separate from the Camels. Thankfully, sophomore Rebecca Oberman-Levine (Hamden, Conn.) prevented Bates from jumping out to an insurmountable lead with three blocks in the quarter. The Bobcats were fueled by 13 first-quarter points from leading scorer Mia Roy as they pulled out to an 18-10 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

The second quarter was a combination of good defense and bad offense for both teams, as they each struggled to put points on the board. The Camels forced five turnovers and junior Jaycie Rojik (Scituate, Mass.) contributed with two key steals that stopped any momentum from the Bobcats. As the quarter came to an end, Bates had only tallied four points in the frame and the Camels had totaled just eight of their own, slowly but surely closing the gap as they headed into halftime trailing by just four points.

The Camels came alive in the third quarter, running solid offense and benefiting from clean passes and open looks at the basket. Using the high post to their advantage, the Camels were able to find open cutters on multiple occasions, leading to high-quality looks for almost everybody on the floor. In the midst of the Camel's biggest scoring run, junior Molly Cronin (Wellesley, Mass.) found herself on the receiving end of a beautiful pass by Rojik and finished with a layup on the left-hand side. The Camels kept the defensive pressure on the Bobcats as well, allowing just nine points in the quarter and forcing Bates to settle for contested shots. After outscoring the Bobcats 21-9 in the period, Connecticut College found themselves ahead by eight points heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The fourth quarter was much of the same for Conn's offense, shooting 70% from the field for the second straight quarter. The two teams went back-and-forth for the first three minutes, but a scoring run featuring four straight layups from Rojik gave Conn a 14-point cushion with just under five minutes remaining in the game. As the end of the contest neared and the trips to the free-throw line added up for the Camels, Cronin connected on seven of her eight attempts to prevent the Bobcats from gaining any ground. As the final buzzer rang, the Camels proved victorious by a score of 63-50.

Rojik led the way in scoring for the Camels with 19 points to go along with six rebounds and four steals. Cronin added 14 points and two steals of her own. For Bates, Roy paced the team in scoring with a game-high 20 points and added two steals. Morgan Kennedy added eight points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats.

The Camels led the Bobcats in shooting percentage, shooting 45.3% from the field compared to just 28.6% for Bates. The two teams both shot 28.6% from beyond the arc, with Bates taking 28 shots from deep compared to 14 for the Camels. Bates shot 100% from the free-throw line on just two attempts while Connecticut College shot 68.8% while going 11-16. The Camels held the lead in rebounding as well, with 43 compared to 36 for the visitors and topped the Bobcats in assists with 15 compared to seven for Bates. The Camels turned the ball over 18 times while Bates held onto the ball a tad better with 12 turnovers of their own. The Camels won the battle in the paint, scoring 32 of their 63 points inside whereas Bates finished with 18 of their 50 from inside the paint. Lastly, Connecticut College compiled six blocks on the night whereas Bates had just two.

Connecticut College (4-15, NESCAC 2-5) will next host No. 7 Tufts on Saturday, February 5^th, at 3:00 p.m. The game will be the last home matchup for the Camels on the season and will feature a senior day ceremony prior to tip-off.