STATS: Bates 74, Husson 60

Matia Kostakis '08

Sarah Barton '08

BANGOR, Maine -- Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) paced the Bates women's basketball team with 28 points, 12 rebounds, and eight steals, and Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) set a school record with 18 assists as the Bobcats cruised past Husson College Wednesday night 74-60.

Sophomore Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) added 20 points for the Bobcats, who raised their record to 3-1 on the season. Husson fell to 1-2.

After trailing at halftime 34-33, Bates (3-1) used a 16-6 second half run starting at 17:31 to take a 54-44 lead with 9:19 remaining.  The Bobcat defensive pressure forced 39 Husson turnovers and held the Eagles to just 26 second-half points, while Bates shot 48.5% in the second half. 

Husson was paced by Shelby Pickering (Lee, Maine) who finished with 17 points. Jodi Merchant (Ellsworth, Maine) had 14 points and Annie McIntosh (New Gloucester, Maine) chipped in 8 points and 12 rebounds. 

The Eagles closed the first half with a 15-7 run to take a one-point lead into halftime, but their turnovers were too much to overcome.  Bates controlled play throughout the second half.

Barton's 18 assists broke the former school record of 15 set by Dianna Devlin '96 on Nov. 19, 1995 against Westbrook. Barton broke Devlin's single-season assist record of 177 last season with 199. In Bates' win over Husson last season, Barton set a then-personal high with 14 assists.

Kostakis's 28 points was the highest scoring output by a Bates player since Lauren DuBois '04 netted 29 at Williams College on Nov. 24, 2002. Kostakis set career highs in both points and steals.

Sophomore ShawnRose Lanchantin (Natick, Mass.) set a career high with nine points for Bates, and tied a career high with three rebounds.

Bates will travel to Norwich University on Friday and play at 8 p.m.