DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Bates women's basketball team trailed by as many as 18 points before rallying and coming up just short in a 65-62 loss Thursday afternoon to St. Vincent at the Daytona Beach Shootout. 

Down 59-41 with 9:05 remaining in regulation, the Bobcats (9-2) gave the Bearcats (6-6) all they could handle down the stretch. 

Senior captain Morgan Kennedy (Oklahoma City, Okla.) got a 12-0 run started with a pair of free throws, and with 5:44 remaining in regulation, sophomore Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) made a free throw of her own to trim the St. Vincent lead to 59-53.

St. Vincent's Emily Cavacini answered with a jumper off an offensive rebound to put the Bearcats back up by eight with 4:38 left. Then a pair of rookies nearly led Bates all the way back. First-year Mya Hicks (Ann Arbor, Mich.) got things going with a three-pointer, her third of the game. A jumper by first-year Sarah Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) got the Bobcats to within three before Cavacini answered again, this time with a layup as the shot clock expired to make the score 63-58 in favor of St. Vincent with 2:23 remaining.

Hughes was relentless, scoring four unanswered points to get Bates within one with 1:01 to go. 

The Bobcats had a chance to take the lead, but Cavacini came up with a big steal. Madison Weber split a pair of free throws on the other end, and the Bobcats had one last chance to win or send the game to overtime, taking possession out of a timeout with five seconds left. A layup rolled off the rim and St. Vincent hung on to win by three after Cavacini made a free throw on the other end for the final margin of victory for the Bearcats.

Cavacini led all scorers with 23 points on 8-16 shooting. Weber recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Emily Thompson chipped in 10 points for St. Vincent.

Hughes tallied a career-high 15 points on 6-8 shooting and Daulerio netted 15 points on 6-10 shooting to pace the Bobcats. Daulerio tallied her second double-double of the season, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds for Bates. Kennedy finished with 13 points and six rebounds while Hicks added 11 points on 4-8 shooting.

The Bobcats never led in the contest, as they fell into an early 24-12 hole due to cold outside shooting. The Bobcats went 0-10 from three-point range in the first quarter. They bounced back in the second quarter, trimming the deficit to five at 39-34 by halftime.

But the Bearcats grabbed control of the game back by outscoring Bates 17-7 in the third quarter. The Bobcats went just 2-15 from the floor, as their hot-and-cold game continued.

Bates got very hot in the fourth quarter, outscoring St. Vincent 21-9 while shooting 8-15 from the field, but came up just short in the end for their second loss of the season.

The Bobcats are back in action Wednesday, Jan. 3 when they host Maine Maritime Academy for a 5pm tip at Alumni Gym.