In the opening game of the NESCAC portion of the schedules for Colby and Bates, tonight's game at Wadsworth Gymnasium carried a great deal of significance, as it was also the inaugural clash of the CBB series for Colby and it's in-state hoop rivals. The Bates Bobcats squad was impressive, as they continually turned back Colby runs throughout the game to stay in control throughout, and improve to 8-2 with a 64-57 victory. Colby drops to 4-8.

Bates jumped out to a 32-24 first half lead, closing the half with a 15-5 run after Colby had jumped out to a 19-17 lead. Highlighting the first half action was the play of Sarah Walsh '03 (Cantonsville, Md.), who was a force on the glass for the White Mules, as she had six first half rebounds, and she also had a pretty spin move for a lay-up early on in the contest. Bates benefited from some balanced scoring early on with Kate Dockery '02 (New York, N.Y.) and Lisa Golobski '03 (Methuen, Mass.) having six points in the first half, and Julia Price '03 (Mansfield, Mass.) and Cara Flaherty '03 (Gorham, Maine) also chipping in with five points.

Colby opened the second half with a three pointer from senior captain Katy Lawson '02 (Mt. Desert Island, Maine). Bates would soon answer with a three pointer of their own, and after Olivia Zurek '05 (Arlington, Mass.) hit one of two free throws Bates held a 38-29 lead with fifteen minutes to go. Two consecutive lay-ups by Wendy Bonner '05 (Lexington, Mass.), one of an offensive rebound, cut the lead to 40-33 with thirteen minutes to go. Bonner continued her tear, snatching another offensive rebounds for a put-back lay-up one minute later and close the lead to 42-35. A few possessions later Zurek was back at the line, and hit one of two to stretch the lead back to eight for the Bobcats. Kate Chuprevich '04 (Monmouth, Maine) took a nice feed from Bonner at the foul line and hit both of her free throws after getting fouled to get the lead down to six, but Caitlin Vincent '04 (Derry, N.H.) hit a basket bring Bates back to an eight point cushion. Another Bonner lay-up and a Katy Lawson basket brought Colby within four points with eight minutes to go. Dockery would answer with a jumper just inside the three-point line to get Bates back up to six. Flaherty would slash through the lane for a basket, and Bates got the put-back of the missed free throw to quickly get Bates back to an eleven point lead. A Lawson three pointer with three minutes to go brought the score to 59-52, but it proved to be to late as Bates pulled away for the victory, with the final score 64-57.

Bates (64)- Price 2-0-5, Flaherty 5-3-15, Dockery 3-5-12, Dubois 1-0-2, Golobski 3-0-6, Taylor 1-0-2, Zurek 3-4-10, Nafe 1-0-3, King 1-0-2, Vincent 3-1-7 Team 23-13-64

Colby (57)- Belcher 0-5-5, Lawson 4-0-10, Henley 1-2-4, O'Donnell 0-0-0, Walsh 3-4-10, Belanger 0-0-0, Burrows 2-1-6, Chuprevich 0-6-6, Ashe 1-0-3, Bonner 6-1-13, Bourque 0-0-0 Team 17-19-57

Three Pointers- Bates- Price, Flaherty 2, Dockery, Nafe Colby- Lawson 2, Burrows, Ashe