Val Beckwith '09 shot 8-for-14 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the line.

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College women's basketball team came back from a 10-point deficit in the second half to notch a 69-66 victory over Wesleyan University Friday night in New England Small College Athletic Conference action.

Bates sophomore Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) scored 21 points, including the go-ahead three-point play with 3:29 left in the game, to lead the Bobcats (10-7, 2-2 NESCAC). Wesleyan sophomore Ali Fourney (East Northport, N.Y.) led the Cardinals (11-6, 2-2 NESCAC) with 21 points.

The visiting Cardinals led 52-42 with 13:15 to play, but the Bobcats staged a comeback. Beckwith's two free throws made it 60-59 Wesleyan with 7:27 to play, and the teams both went scoreless for the next three minutes of the game until Beckwith's layup off a steal by junior Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) and an assist by first-year Kellie Goodridge (Merrimack, N.H.) made it 61-60 with 4:34 to play.

Fourney's layup gave the Cardinals back the lead briefly, but Beckwith followed her own miss with a layup with 3:29 to play, and was fouled and hit the free throw to make it 64-62 Bates.

Bates senior Katie Franklin (New Preston, Conn.) hit a pullup jumper and Barton added a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 68-62 with 1:03 left. But Wesleyan still made Bates squirm, as first-year Emilie Knight (Winthrop, Maine) followed a missed front end of a one and one free throw by junior Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) with a pair of foul shots of her own. Wesleyan senior Sarah Milburn (Brooklyn, N.Y.) then stole the ball from Franklin and hit Knight for a layup to close the gap to 68-66 with 43 seconds left.

Fourney stole the ball on a missed delivery from Barton, but senior Maggie Fitzgerald (Wethersfield, Conn.) stole the ball back from Wesleyan's Nikki Maletta (Durham, Conn.). Fitzgerald was fouled by Bowman, but she too missed the front end of a one and one, giving the Cardinals another chance with 12 seconds left. But Milburn threw the ball across the court and out of bounds as the Cardinals tried to set up a shot.

Bates inbounded to Kostakis, who was fouled by Wesleyan sophomore Meredith Lowe (Philadelphia, Pa.). Now in the double bonus, Kostakis missed her first foul shot and hit the second one. Wesleyan called timeout to set up one last full-court play with three seconds left. Fourney caught the inbounds pass near the midcourt line and released a running three-pointer that beat the buzzer, but caught only glass and iron and no net, ending the game at 69-66.

Kostakis put up 15 points and had nine rebounds for Bates, while Goodridge added a season-high 12 points. Barton chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Lowe notched a double-double for the Cardinals with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Maletta added 13 points. Bowman grabbed eight rebounds to go with five points.

The Bobcats will host Connecticut College Saturday at 3 p.m., while the Cardinals have a game at Tufts.

STATS: Bates 69, Wesleyan 66