A career day by Lauren Yanofsky '10 helped Bates stave off Connecticut College.

LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points to go with nine rebounds and first-year Lauren Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.) added a career-high 20 points, five blocked shots, six rebounds and four assists as the Bates College women's basketball team topped Connecticut College 76-63 in a NESCAC contest on Saturday.

Connecticut College junior Lindsay Michel (West Haven, Conn.) led the Camels with 14 points. First-year Laura Coderre (Monson, Mass.) had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Katy Serafin (Carmel, N.Y.) added eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds, leading the Camels to a 46-42 advantage in rebounds.

The Bobcats (11-7, 3-2 NESCAC) traded leads four times in the first half with the visiting Camels (9-10, 0-5 NESCAC), but scored the last five points of the half on a jumper by junior Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) and a three-pointer by junior Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) to carry a 30-22 lead into the break.

Bates held on to the lead for the rest of the game, although Connecticut College cut the lead to three with a 9-0 run, with four points from Coderre and a three by sophomore Dena Weinstein (Mendham, N.J.) making it 42-39 Bates with 13:14 to play.

But the Bobcats answered with a 17-2 run over the next five minutes, holding the Camels to 1-of-9 shooting over that stretch while Yanofsky tallied nine of Bates' 17 points, and Bates led 59-41 with 8:27 left.

Connecticut College counter-punched with a 9-0 run to cut the lead back to nine, 59-50, with 6:43 left, but that was as close as the Camels would get.

Kostakis added 13 points and four assists, while Barton had 12 points, four assists, five rebounds and three steals. The Bobcats' crisp ball movement led to 20 assists on their 23 made field goals.

Yanofsky recorded career highs in points, field goals, three-pointers and blocked shots. Her five blocks were the most by a Bates player since Meg Coffin's five against Husson on Nov. 30, 2005. Her 20 points were the most by a Bates rookie since Beckwith did the same against Mount Holyoke on Nov. 18, 2005.

Bates next plays host to Bowdoin in a non-league game Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

STATS: Bates 76, Connecticut College 63