Matia Kostakis '08 had 14 points and seven rebounds in her Bates debut.

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LAS VEGAS -- A strong game from junior center Meg Coffin and the appearance of two new faces on the court for the Bates women's basketball team weren't enough for the Bobcats to overcome one of the top teams in Division III on Tuesday.

A dizzying array of contributors, led by Amanda Mondrach (12 points) and Nikki Altenweg (11), vaulted the Yellow Jackets, ranked fourth in the latest USA Today Division III Coaches Poll, over the Bobcats 66-63 in the opening round of the D3 Desert Shootout on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Bates will play Simpson (Iowa) College on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST in the bracket consolation game. Simpson dropped a 71-56 decision to No. 10 Scranton on Tuesday night.

The Yellow Jackets (9-0) won despite shooting only 29.2 percent from the floor in the game, while the Bobcats registered a 39.3 percent clip. Baldwin-Wallace made up for the disparity with a 23-for-25 (.920) performance at the free throw line, while Bates shot 12-for-15 (.800).

Coffin (Westford, Mass.) led Bates (4-4) with game highs of 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting and 14 rebounds, to go with two steals and two assists. Sophomore point guard Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) added 15 points with a game-high six assists and seven rebounds.

In her first game in a Bates uniform after a broken foot injury sidelined her for Bates' first seven games, forward Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) pitched in with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds. The 6-0 Kostakis transferred to Bates after a year at Amherst College.

Also making her first Bates appearance was guard Jackie Powers (Andover, Mass.), a transfer from Boston College. The 5-7 Powers chipped in with six points.

The remarkably balanced Yellow Jackets outrebounded the Bobcats 45-40, yet the team's top individual boardswomen were Mondrach, Leah Mottayaw and Michelle White, with six apiece. Nine Baldwin-Wallace players scored between four and 12 points, and 10 players played at least 10 minutes.