LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's basketball team scored 31 points in the first quarter and never looked back, defeating the University of Maine at Farmington by a final score of 85-56 Tuesday night in the season opener for the Bobcats.

Junior captain Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) led the way for Bates (1-0) with 17 points and four assists on 8-16 shooting while sophomore Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) added 16 points of her own in the victory. Alex Bessey paced the Beavers (2-1) with 21 points on 8-14 shooting and Tia Day chipped in 13 points. 

Five Bobcats finished in double figures, with senior Amaari Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.), junior Brianna Gadaleta (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and junior Kayla Bridgeman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) adding 10 points each. Senior Ariana Dalia (Brick, N.J.) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Graff poured in 10 of her 17 points in the first quarter, as Bates shot 14-21 from the floor as a team in the first 10 minutes of action. With the game tied at 13, Graff hit a jumper with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter to give the Bobcats the lead for good. The bucket started an 11-0 run for Bates, capped off by a Morgan Kennedy three-pointer with 3:42 remaining. 

Up 31-19 after one, the Bobcats saw their lead trimmed to 10 points at the half, with the Beavers outscoring Bates 17-15 in the second quarter. 

In the second half, the Bates defense took over. The Beavers only scored 20 points over the final 20 minutes while the Bobcats scored 22 points in the third quarter alone.

The Bobcats held UMF to 29.2 percent shooting while Bates shot 42.9% from the floor. Bates also recorded 14 steals and UMF turned the ball over 21 times. Bridgeman led all players with three steals. 

Bates hosts the Bobcat Classic Tip-Off this Friday and Saturday, with Thomas College, RPI and New England College all coming to town. Bates takes on Thomas Friday at 6pm and RPI Saturday at 2pm.