LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates women's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season Saturday with a 79-55 loss to No. 11 nationally ranked Tufts in a non-conference game at Alumni Gym. 

Maggie Russell had a double-double by halftime and paced the Jumbos (1-0) with 31 points on 12-23 shooting, grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds as well. Sarah Crossett added 16 points on 5-6 shooting and six rebounds. 

Shooting was the difference in the game, with Tufts finishing 28-70 from the floor (40 percent) and Bates struggling to a 20-68 shooting performance (29.4 percent) on the afternoon. The Bobcats also only hit 1-16 from three-point range while Tufts finished 8-31 from downtown. 

Bates had a brief 9-7 lead thanks to a jumper from senior Kayla Bridgeman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 5:24 left in the first quarter. The Jumbos responded and took a 14-11 lead on a Sofia Gonzalez layup with 2:09 to go. Then junior Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) hit the lone three of the day for the Bobcats and the score stood tied at 14 with 1:52 left in the opening 10 minutes.

But the Jumbos responded with a 5-0 run to end the quarter, taking a 19-14 lead over the Bobcats. 

Junior Alyson Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) cut the Tufts lead to three to start the second quarter with an impressive runner on the baseline. That's as close as Bates got the rest of the way as a quick 8-0 run from Tufts extended the lead to 11 with 7:09 remaining until halftime.

The Jumbos went up by as many as 16 points in the first half before the Bobcats rallied to cut the deficit to eight by halftime on an old-fashioned three-point play from first-year Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) with four seconds left in the half. 

Down 39-31 at the intermission, the Bobcats got to within six on a steal and a fastbreak layup by sophomore Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) to open the third quarter.

But Tufts once again fended off any hit of a Bates rally, going on a 9-0 run to push the lead back to 15. A Spolter jumper at the end of the quarter made the score 57-45 in favor of Tufts, with Bates still within shouting distance.

The Jumbos scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and never looked back, out-scoring Bates 22-10 down the stretch. 

Senior captain Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) scored 15 points to pace the Bobcats while Spolter and Morgan Kennedy added 11 points apiece. Bridgeman added eight points and seven rebounds. Senior Jenna Berens (Durham, Conn.) added five points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Bobcats are back in action next Saturday when they take on Brooklyn College at the Emmanuel College Tip Off in Boston. Tip is set for 1pm.