Lauren Yanofsky '10 scored 13 points and led the Bobcats with 4 assists and 3 steals.

STANDISH, Maine -- First-year players came up big in the Bates College women's basketball team's 73-59 victory at St. Joseph's College of Maine on Tuesday night. The Bobcats won their fourth straight game and now stand at 6-1, while the Monks dropped to 6-5.

Bates senior Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) led the Bobcats with 15 points to go with 7 rebounds, while junior Lauren Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.) added 13 points with 4 assists and 3 steals. But a pair of Bates first-years submitted season-best performances to help propel the team to victory. Kelsey Flaherty (South Portland, Maine) scored 11 points to go with 7 rebounds, while Kristen Finn (Winthrop, Mass.) added 10 points, including both of the team's two three-pointers in the game. Sophomore Christine McCall (Lowell, Mass.) grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds and sophomore Jessie Igoe (Lexington, Mass.) blocked 3 shots.

Carolyn Freeman and Meghan Daigle both scored 17 points for St. Joseph's.

Bates took advantage of 25 turnovers by St. Joseph's, turning them into 25 points. The Bobcats also enjoyed a 42-14 advantage in points off the bench.

St. Joseph's jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead, but Bates stormed back with a 17-2 run to seize the lead for good at 18-10 with 11:21 to play. Yanofsky and Flaherty scored four points apiece in the run. Bates led 38-27 at the half and extended the lead to as many as 19 points midway through the second half before the Monks regrouped and cut it to as little as 6, at 63-57 with 3:05 left. Bates responded with a 10-0 run, including four points apiece from Yanofsky and Beckwith, to seal the victory.

Bates next travels to South Padre Island, Texas, to play in the South Padre Island Shootout Dec. 20-21. The Bobcats will take on Lynchburg (Va.) College on Saturday at 1 p.m., followed on Sunday by a matchup with McMurry University of Abilene, Texas, also at 1 p.m.

STATS: Bates 73, St. Joseph's 59