WORCESTER, Mass. -- Senior captain Elsa Daulerio scored a season-high 22 points and first-year Claire Gaetani added a career-high 14 as the No. 12 nationally ranked Bates women's basketball team rolled to a 65-44 win over Roger Williams Tuesday evening at the WPI Winter Invitational. 

The Bobcats (9-1) trailed briefly in the first quarter before taking complete control of the game from the Hawks (5-5) on their way to a 35-16 halftime lead. Roger Williams cut the Bates advantage to 11 twice in the second half but did not get any closer the rest of the way. 

With Bates trailing 6-5, Daulerio (Harpswell, Maine) hit a jumper with 6:36 left in the first quarter to give the Bobcats the lead for good. With the score at 9-8, Bates went on a 11-0 run to take a 20-8 lead on a layup from junior Sarah Hughes (Rumson, N.J.) with 1:39 left in the opening stanza.

The Bobcats led 22-12 after one and Gaetani (Old Town, Maine) got the scoring started in the second quarter with a layup. Daulerio followed with a jumper and a Hughes layup extended the lead to 28-12 with 7:16 left until halftime.

Bates completely shut down the Hawks in the second quarter, holding them to just four points. A steal by Daulerio led to a layup from sophomore Gabby Bellacqua (West Newbury, Mass.) with 2:06 left until the intermission, making the score 35-16. 

A Maia Riccio layup for Roger Williams cut the score to 39-28 with 4:34 left in the third quarter before Daulerio answered with back-to-back buckets to put the Bobcats up by 15 with 3:47 on the clock. 

Bates extended the lead to 20 when Gaetani recorded a steal and converted a layup in transition to make the score 51-31 late in the third quarter. 

Up by 18 entering the final 10 minutes, Bates held serve the rest of the way, outscoring the Hawks 14-11 in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory.

Daulerio was outstanding, shooting 11-19 from the floor for Bates. She also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, blocked three shots, and recorded three steals. Gaetani was also efficient, shooting 5-9 from the field and making 2-6 from three-point range. She dished out four assists and tallied three steals of her own. Bellacqua was the only other Bobcat to make a three-pointer on her way to seven points on 3-5 shooting. Senior Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) chipped in six points and recorded a game-high five steals.

Bates did a good job holding on to the ball, matching their season-low with 10 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Hawks turned the ball over 23 times and the Bobcats tallied 18 points off turnovers to just three points off turnovers for Roger Williams.

The Bobcats shot 43.8 percent from the floor and held the Hawks to 34 percent shooting. Sophia Coppola paced the Hawks with 14 points on 6-9 shooting and seven rebounds. 

Bates is back in action at the WPI Winter Invitational on Wednesday when they take on Hunter College at 1 p.m.