Box Score
MEDFORD – Sixth-ranked Tufts held visiting Bates College to four points in the first 12 minutes of play and rolled to a 62-46 NESCAC women's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.
Tufts improved to 16-0 and 4-0 in the conference with the victory. Bates lost its fifth straight game, falling to 7-10 overall and 0-4 in the league.
The Jumbos led 32-12 at halftime, holding the Bobcats to 16-percent shooting (4/25). Eight different Jumbos had points in the half, led by seven from senior Liz Moynihan off the bench. The Jumbos out-rebounded the Bobcats 23-13 in the first 20 minutes, including four each by Emma Roberson, Michela North and Ali Rocchi. Tufts had advantages of 14-2 in the paint and 11-2 off turnovers for the half.
Bates had an early lead after Tufts opened the game on a three-pointer by Kelsey Morehead. Allie Coppola and Bernadette Connors scored back-to-back baskets and the Bobcats led 4-3 at the 17-minute mark.
The visitors would not score again for almost 11 minutes as Tufts went on an 18-0 run to lead 21-4 with 7:27 on the clock. Moynihan led six Tufts scorers during the stretch with five points. Bates was able to cut the margin to 26-12 on a three-pointer by Chelsea Nason at 3:56, but the Jumbos scored the final six points of the half to lead by 20 at intermission.
Bates had more success in the second half, outscoring Tufts 34-30. Meredith Kelly scored 13 of her game-high 16 points in the second half for the Bobcats. Bates shot at a 45.2 percent (14/31) clip in the second half, including 4 of 9 (44.4%) on threes.
With a 10-5 stretch to open the half, Bates cut the Jumbo lead down to 15 points (37-22) on a three-pointer by Connors. Nason also had a three. However, that was as close as the Bobcats would get. The Jumbos scored the next 12 points, started with consecutive hoops by Caitlin McClure. The Tufts lead was 49-22 with 13:21 on the clock.
A late 12-2 run led by Kelly's eight points had the Bobcats within 16 (60-44) at the three-minute mark. But after the teams traded baskets, neither scored again in the final 2:24 of play.
Moynihan's 11 points led nine Jumbos who scored. She added five rebounds and two assists. Morehead and McClure both tallied nine points, with Morehead contributing three assists and two steals. North put up eight points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Jumbos won the battle of the boards, 43-28. Ali Rocchi was valuable off the bench with four points, six rebounds and three assists.
Bates' Kelly had four rebounds, four assists and three steals to go with her game-high scoring total. Coppola finished with eight points and two assists. Nason recorded six points, four rebounds and three steals. Julia Rafferty played all 40 minutes for Bates.
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