GORHAM, Maine  – With its lead trimmed to three, 59-56 with 2:41 remaining in the game, the Bates College Bobcats closed out the game on a 9-0 run to earn a 68-56 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a non-conference women's basketball game Tuesday night at Hill Gymnasium.

            With the win, Bates College improves its record to 1-2.  Southern Maine drops its fourth straight to stand at 0-4.

            Bates scored all nine of its points from the free throw line in the final moments of regulation to capture the win, and halt a USM comeback attempt.  Conversely, USM went 0-6 in the final minutes committing a pair of turnovers.

            Senior Nina Davenport (Freeport, Maine) led all scorers with 27 points, adding eight rebounds and four steals for the Bobcats.  Sophomore Melanie Binkhorst (West Hartford, Conn./Ridgefield) added 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

            Southern Maine rookie Kristen Curley (Gorham, Maine) set a career-high for the third straight game leading the Huskies with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.  Curley was outstanding from the field shooting 8-for-13, including a 4-for-7 mark from three-point range.  Senior Emily Nicholson (Quispamisis, New Brunswick/Kennebecasis Valley) added 15 points, four rebounds, three steals and a team-high five assists. 

            Trailing the Bobcats by 11, 57-46, midway through the fourth quarter, Southern Maine rallied to pull to within a possession of Bates using a 10-2 run.  After a pair of free throws from Bates' sophomore Carly Christofi (Fairlwan, N.J./Saddle River Day) made it 57-46 with 4:42 to play, Curley keyed the Huskies' run hitting a three on a cross-court feed from Nicholson.  Davenport countered with a layup off of a Christofi assist for the Bobcats to make it a 59-49 game on the next possession, but the Huskies rattled off the next seven points to get back into the game.  Nicholson hit a lay up off of an inbounds play on a pass from sophomore Mychaela Harton (Georgia, Vt./Essex), before Harton drained a floater in the lane for a 59-53 game with 3:00 to play. After a Bates turnover returned the ball to the Huskies, Curley drained her second three of the run on another feed from Nicholson for a 59-56 score with 2:41 to go. 

            With its lead down to a possession, Bates called a timeout and freshman Taylor McVeigh (Hanson, Mass./Whitman Hanson) got to the free throw line for two, and then came up with a steal.  Senior Lexi Nason (Boxford, Mass./Masconoment) earned a pair of free throws to make it 63-56 with 1:48 to play.  Another Husky turnover led to another set of free throws for the Bobcats and a nine-point 65-56 lead with 1:29 to play.  From there, Bates made 3-of-6 free throws down the stretch as USM missed from the field for the win.

            Southern Maine returns to action on Sunday (5:30 p.m.) at St. Joseph's College.

–cac–