Meghan Graff led all scorers with 19 points, while teammate Alexandra Long followed with 16 for Bates College, as the Bobcats, in the midst of a slugfest in the NESCAC standings, led wire-to-wire in a 68-55 Saturday road win at Colby College.
The clutch conference victory puts Bates at 3-5 in NESCAC play (10-10 overall). The Mules, with the setback, also sit at 3-5 (8-12 overall). Bowdoin and Wesleyan also own 3-5 records vs. conference foes in an all-out battle for a postseason berth.
Owning a lead as high as 10 points in the opening quarter (20-10, 3:07), the Bobcats closed out the initial frame with a 22-15 cushion. The lead increased to 11 at 8:17 of the second when a Long fastbreak lay-in made the score 26-15 Bates.
The Mules mounted a subsequent 13-8 push to climb to within two (30-28) of the garnet and white with 3:27 to go in the half. Bates pocketed the final four points of the stanza to enter intermission owning a 34-28 advantage.
Colby could not climb any closer the rest of the way as the 'Cats inflated their lead to 13 points on three different occasions in the third period. With Bates ahead by 12 (55-43) at the 9:33 mark of the fourth, the Mules made one final push, coming to within four of the Bobcats as an 8-0 sprint made the score 55-51.
Bates turned on the jets from there, exploding for a 13-2 run to establish a game-high 15-point lead of 68-53 with only 00:09 remaining in regulation.
Graff (Sr.-South Portland, Maine) hit 7-of-15 from the floor, along with a 4-for-6 showing at the charity stripe, en route to her 19 points. Long (So.-Newtown, Pa.) dished a game-best six assists, while going 5-for-12 from the field, in 40 minutes of action.
Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) provided a balanced effort for the victors as the first-year recorded nine points and a team-best eight boards.
Caroline Smith paced Colby with 13 points and five helpers.
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