BOX SCORE
LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore forward Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) went 13-for-14 at the free throw line in scoring a team-high 21 points as the Bates College women's basketball team knocked off rival Bowdoin College 56-51 on Friday night.
The loss snapped a 31-game winning streak in NESCAC contests for the Polar Bears (11-2, 0-1 NESCAC), who are currently ranked No. 2 in the USA Today coaches Division III poll.
Bates (9-5, 1-0 NESCAC) increased its home winning streak to 16 games.
Bowdoin junior forward Eileen Flaherty scored 24 points to surpass the 1,000 career points mark in the game. Flaherty (Fairfield, Conn.) needed 19 points to reach the plateau.
Bates held the Polar Bears to 25 points under their team scoring average. Bowdoin shot 39.6 percent from the floor, and only 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) on 3-pointers.
"We might have had something to do with it, but Bowdoin didn't shoot well tonight," said Bates head coach Jim Murphy. "It was a typical Bates-Bowdoin game, and the home team won again."
The difference in the game was at the foul line, where the Bobcats were 18-for-21 behind Kostakis' stellar performance, and the Polar Bears struggled to a 7-for-16 effort.
"Matia's foul shots were huge, just huge," said Murphy.
Flaherty and Kostakis were the only two double-digit scorers in the game. Junior center Meg Coffin (Westford, Mass.) scored a season-low eight points while grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
Bates held a slim lead for the majority of the second half. A pair of foul shots by Kostakis with 3:52 left in the game gave Bates a three-point lead (46-43). Coffin (Westford, Mass.) blocked a a shot underneath by Flaherty and added a hoop to extend the lead to five.
Marisa Berne (Falmouth, Maine) hit a jumper for Bowdoin, but Bates sophomore Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) answered with a floater in the lane to reestablish the cushion.
Bowdoin was forced to foul in the final minute, and unfortunately for the Polar Bears it was Kostakis each time. Kostakis swished all six of her foul shots in the last minute to seal the win for Bates.
The Bobcats will host Colby College (5-7) Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in their second NESCAC contest of the season.
BATES 56, BOWDOIN 51
BOWDOIN (11-2)
Eileen Flaherty 10-15 3-5 24; Justine Pouravelis 4-5 0-3 8; Jill Anelauskas 2-3 0-0 5; Marisa Berne 2-11 1-3 5; Julia Loonin 1-10 2-2 4; Alexa Kaubris 1-2 1-2 3; Maria Noucas 1-3 0-0 2; Vanessa Russell 0-2 0-0 0; Katie Cummings 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 21-53 7-16 51.
BATES (9-5)
Matia Kostakis 4-11 13-14 21; Meg Coffin 4-12 0-1 8; Annie Whiting 3-5 0-0 6; Kyla Decato 2-4 0-0 5; Val Beckwith 2-4 1-2 5; Jackie Powers 1-5 2-2 4; Sarah Barton 1-5 2-2 4; Mary Hart 1-3 0-0 3; Maggie Fitzgerald 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 18-21 56.
BOW........................... 24 27 - 51
Bates......................... 27 29 - 56
3-point goals-BOW 2-17 (Eileen Flaherty 1-2; Jill Anelauskas 1-1; Marisa Berne 0-7; Julia Loonin 0-5; Maria Noucas 0-1; Katie Cummings 0-1), Bates 2-10 (Mary Hart 1-1; Kyla Decato 1-1; Annie Whiting 0-1; Val Beckwith 0-1; Jackie Powers 0-2; Sarah Barton 0-2; Maggie Fitzgerald 0-1; Matia Kostakis 0-1). Fouled out--BOW-None, Bates-None. Rebounds-BOW 36 (Justine Pouravelis 8), Bates 39 (Meg Coffin 10). Assists-BOW 10 (Justine Pouravelis 4), Bates 15 (Sarah Barton 6). Total fouls-BOW 15, Bates 15. A-800
