Box Score

LEWISTON, Maine -- Molly Brown registered a career-high 31 points to lead Bates College back from an 11-point 2nd-half deficit to defeat No. 18 University of New England, 76-72, in a non-league women's basketball contest Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3) at Alumni Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (8-4) received seven of their 10 three-pointers from Brown, who tallied 19 of her points in the closing 20 minutes. Allie Coppola scored 14 of her 18 after halftime, and picked up six rebounds and a game-high three steals. Kristin Calvo dished out eight assists to help pace the attack. Bernadette Connors and Brown combined for 19 boards, and together accounted for nearly half (9) of the squad's 19 offensive caroms.

UNE (5-2) was led by junior Lauren Hayden, who dropped in a career-best 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and made it a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds. Senior Kelly Coleman and junior Alanna Vose each ended with 14 points -- Coleman also collected eight boards, and Vose netted 11 of her points in the 2nd period. Junior Meghan Gribbin notched six assists.

The Nor'easters was up by as many as 11 (45-34) in the final frame, and the margin was still 10 (52-42) more than five minutes later before Bates started to rally. Brown and Coppola posted the last 13 points of a 16-5 run that moved the hosts ahead (58-57) with 4:36 to play.

Things were level at 62-all when Brown sunk a triple to give the Bobcats a lead they would not relinquish.

The teams traded the next six baskets until it was 73-69 with 20 seconds remaining. UNE turned the ball over twice in the waning seconds, opening the door for Bates to tack on three freebies and extend the gap to seven (76-69). The Nor'easters committed 10 of their 12 turnovers in the last 20 minutes.

A half-court buzzer-beater by UNE first-year Sam MacDonald provided the final spread.

Bates shot 46 percent from the floor in the 2nd stanza, as opposed to 28 percent during the initial period.

UNE spent most of the 1st half in front, and utilized an 8-0 stretch heading into intermission to build a 36-27 cushion. Big Blue made 49 percent of its shot attempts in the frame, while holding a 24-4 points advantage in the paint.

The Nor'easters get back to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) at Wentworth Institute of Technology. The Bobcats host Lasell College the same night (7 p.m.).