WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bates women's basketball team got off to a hot start and sophomore Sarah Hughes played the role of closer with a game-high 16 points as the Bobcats defeated WPI by a score of 62-50 Thursday afternoon in a road contest at Harrington Auditorium. 

Bates (7-2) never trailed, jumping out to a 6-0 lead over the host Engineers (4-4) to begin the game. A layup from senior captain Alexandra Long (Newtown, Pa.) put the visitors up 10-5 with 6:45 left in the first quarter and WPI never got closer than to within five points the rest of the way.

Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) drilled a three and junior Elsa Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) sank a pair of free throws to open up a 15-5 lead. The Bobcats finished the first quarter up 19-7, and 12 points proved to be the final margin of victory as well.

Daulerio finished the game with 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds. First-year Lily Lambo (Watertown, Mass.) provided a spark off the bench, drilling 3-5 from three-point range for a season-high nine points. Junior Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) chipped in eight points and five rebounds while Long dished out a team-high three assists.

Meanwhile, Hughes was quiet on Thursday until the fourth quarter. With Bates up by seven at 49-42, Hughes nailed a three-pointer with 5:42 remaining to give the visitors some more breathing room. This started a remarkable run, as Hughes scored the final 13 points of the game for Bates. Her jumper with 3:43 left and her layup with 2:13 to go both extended the lead back to 10 after WPI had scored.

The Engineers were able to trim the Bates advantage to six with just over a minute left, but Hughes sealed the deal at the free throw line, making 6-6 over the last minute of the game to put the contest away.

Neither team shot the ball that well as Bates finished the game shooting 36.8 percent from the floor, while WPI actually shot the ball slightly better at 38.2%. The Bobcats made a couple more three-pointers and held a huge advantage at the free throw line, making 14-18 from the stripe to just 4-7 for WPI. 

Bates turned 18 WPI turnovers into 14 points, tallying eight steals along the way. 

Caitlyn Dasaro paced the Engineers with 12 points on 5-9 shooting while Alice Kelly added five points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Bobcats visit NCAA Division I foe the University of Maine Saturday afternoon for a showdown at "The Pit" in Orono that gets underway at 2 p.m. Bates has not played UMaine in women's basketball since 1981.