BOX SCORE

Meg Coffin '07 filled the stat sheet in her return to the hardwood against Husson.

LEWISTON, Maine -- In her first game of the season, junior center Meg Coffin (Westford, Mass.) led the Bates College women's basketball team to an 87-48 victory over Husson College on Wednesday night, scoring a game-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and adding 10 rebounds, five assists, five blocked shots and five steals.

Sophomore Sarah Barton added a career-high 14 assists to go with six points and three steals for the Bobcats (2-2), who won their home opener and bounced back from a two-game losing skid. Barton's assist total is one shy of the Bates school record of 15, set by Dianna Devlin in 1995.

Jodie Merchant (Ellsworth, Maine) led the visiting Eagles (1-2) with 14 points. Carmen Ballard (Skowhegan, Maine) added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Bates went on a 20-0 run midway through the first half to extend a 25-13 lead into a decisive 45-13 advantage with 5:38 left in the half. The Bobcats shot 56.1 percent from the floor while etching a 54-22 advantage at intermission. They ended the game shooting 45.9 percent on field goals, compared to 30.0 percent for Husson, while collecting a whopping 32 assists on 39 field goals and making 25 steals as a team.

It was Coffin's first game of the season, after sitting out the Bobcats' first three contests with back pain. The second-team All-NESCAC player played 28 minutes in her return to action.

Sophomore Becca Buckler (North Wales, Pa.) scored 12 points and swiped four steals for Bates, and first-year forward Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) added eight points and nine rebounds.

Bates head coach Jim Murphy was able to use his reserve players extensively, with nine players seeing at least 14 minutes of action. Junior Katie Franklin (New Preston, Conn.) scored 11 points, junior Maggie Fitzgerald (Wethersfield, Conn.) added 10 points, and senior Kyla Decato collected nine points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Bates faces Worcester State on Saturday in the first round of the Williams College Tournament in Williamstown, Mass. Husson will play at Bay Path College on Saturday.