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Nyu Psychologist Speaks On Stereotype Threat • As Snow Falls, Students Hit the Slopes • From Bates to Glass Blowing: Alumni Provides Hope for Confused Seniors • New Progressive Think Tank to Be Brought to Campus • School Finished Oral History of Senator Edmund Muskie • Thesis Talk: Bringing the Nanny Diaries to Life On the Vineyard With Emily Parr • Third Annual Unity Conference Focuses On Critical Issues Facing Black Community • Women's Basketball Wins First Ncaa Tournament Game |
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In front of a capacity crowd, whose intensity rivaled the fans of any major Division I school including the Cameron Crazies of Duke fame, the Bobcats took on Emmanuel College in the second round of the Division III NCAA tournament. Everyone had a feeling that Saturday was going to be special, with fans arriving to the hot Alumni gym an hour and a half before the game was set to tip off.
"When we were walking to the gym around 12:30 and saw a handful of fans waiting
outside, we knew that Alumni was going to be crazy," said first-year guard Sarah Barton.
Feeding off the intensity of the crowd which was loud from the pre-game warm-ups up until the final buzzer, Bates was able to jump out to an early lead on the Saints. Coming into the game, the Bobcats knew that controlling the paint would be the key to the victory.
"We knew we were going to have to play great defense and rebound to win and I think we executed," said Meg Coffin.
Bates played a complete team game, as they were able to work the ball inside and out while controlling the pace of play, forcing Emmanuel to run more to keep up then they would have liked. Bates had a 42-30 lead at the half because they were able to execute on both offense and defense, however they were not winning the battle on the boards as they were being out rebounded by the Saints.
In the second half, Bates' defense tightened up and they refocused their attention to rebounding. This allowed the Bobcats to run and get easy fast break points tiring out an already exhausted Emmanuel team.
"They were out rebounding us in the first half, then we ended up out rebounding them by seven (48-41) was a huge swing," said senior co-captain Betsy Hochadel.
"(Rebounding) allowed us to run our fast break and made Emmanuel's sprint more than they wanted to. There was no question that some of their players became fatigued," said Bates coach Jim Murphy.
The fatigue definitely showed in the second half as Emmanuel was never able to make the game close and Bates extended their lead to 28. The Bobcats eventually won the game by nineteen, 83-64. They were led by the exceptional play of Coffin and Olivia Zurek. Coffin recorded a game high 21 points and 18 rebounds, while Zurek added 17 points and 7 rebounds. Kyla Decato scored 13 points while Heather Taylor had 12.
This game exemplified what Bates could do when they play a complete team game. The Bobcats were led not only by the starts but also received huge contributions from Decato, Elizabeth Blakeley, and Leah Schouten coming off the bench.
"A major factor was the bench. Kyla and Leah came off the bench in
the first half and each hit two threes. Elizabeth had some huge rebounds.
Everyone contributed something," said Barton.
The Bobcats are playing with a lot of confidence and look like a team ready to prove to all the doubters that they are for real. In order to continue this success in the tournament the players know that they must continue to improve everyday as well as keep their mental toughness and intensity.
"From here on out we need to focus on getting better. We are not going to win
games by simply walking into the gym. Nothing is guaranteed in tournament play.
Other teams are going to be gunning for us, and we are going to have to prepare
for battle in rounds to come," said Barton.
Every player now knows that their team is for real and that they are more than capable of cutting down the nets on March 19th.
"Everyone now believes that we can win the Championship when before it was just a goal. Now we should be disappointed if we don't go all the way," said Hochadel.
Next up for the Bobcats is the sweet sixteen which will be played on Friday against the University of Southern Maine. The game will be played at the USM instead of Bates, even though the Bobcats are a higher seed. The game location is not determined by seed but rather by a committee who decides which venue would best serve to hold the tournament game.
"Hopefully the student body will be willing to travel to Gorham, because it could make a big difference in the game. Their support this year has been phenomenal," said Hochadel.
"I would like to thank all of our fans. They were great, and we will need their support in the next round," said Coach Murphy.