LEWISTON —Meghan Graff couldn’t be stopped Tuesday night.
The senior from South Portland continued her recent hot streak by pouring in a season-high 33 points to lead Bates College to a 74-48 women’s basketball win over rival Colby in a nonconference game at Alumni Gymnasium.
“Just getting good shots and my teammates making good passes and we executed our (offense),” Graff said. “We were able to knock them down today.”
Graff made 12 of 22 shots from the field and 9 of 9 from the free throw line. Earlier Tuesday she was announced a the Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches’ co-Player of the Week. Graff has scored 28 or more points in three of the Bobcats’ past four games. She is averaging 22.4 points per game this season and is on pace to break the program career scoring record next month — she currently ranks fifth and is 171 points behind all-time leader Emily King.
Bates and Colby traded baskets early in Tuesday’s matchup. Midway through the quarter, the Bobcats (5-2) built an 11-6 advantage, but the Mules (3-4) chipped away and Bates’ lead was down to 14-12 by the end of the game’s first 10 minutes.
Bates began to build its lead in the second quarter with an 8-0 run.
“A game is full of ebbs and flows, and just putting together a full 40 minutes — back and forth one quarter is fine, we are fine with that if we can go on some runs in the other quarters, and that’s exactly what we did,” Graff said.
The run was sparked by the Bobcats’ defensive switch from man-to-man to a zone.
“We went to some possessions in our 1-3-1, and it added a little bit of a different challenge for (Colby) offensively,” Bates coach Alison Montgomery said. “I think we got some stops, which turned into scores for us that gave us a little cushion.”
Graff and Morgan Kennedy were the offensive catalysts for the Bobcats in the second. Graff scored 13 of her 15 first-half points in the second, which included making 5 of 5 at the free throw stripe.
Kennedy, meanwhile, scored seven of her 10 points in the second quarter. The Bobcats outscored the Mules 24-12 in the second to take a 38-24 lead into halftime.
Carter McGloon led the Mules in the first half with 12 points. No other player contributed more than two. McGloon finished with 13.
Graff continue to have the hot hand in the third quarter and nearly matched her first-half totals with 14 points in the period.
Graff didn’t realize how many points she racked up in the third quarter.
“In the flow of the game, I am just out there to compete, and if there’s an open look to take, I will definitely take it and shoot it confidently,” Graff said. “I am always looking for (the pass), and like I said, playing together as a team led to the success (tonight).”
Bates’ lead was up to 58-36 after the third quarter.
Caroline Smith led Colby with nine points in the third. She finished with a team-high 16 points.
Graff added four more points in the fourth. The Bobcats fed freshman Elsa Daulerio, who tallied four of her eight points in the final quarter.
“She’s definitely growing into herself and she’s starting to figure out how to make an impact at this level,” Montgomery said of Daulerio. “She’s bringing it on both ends (of the floor). I think she has nice length and size, so defensively, she’s giving us some great minutes, and it was great to see her connect today on some jumpers.”
Daulerio led the team with four blocks.
Montgomery said the Bobcats did a good job on second-chance scoring opportunities throughout the game by grabbing the rebounds.
“We had a goal of out-rebounding them by 10, and we out rebounded them by 12,” Montgomery said. “We always talk about second chances, and so wanting offensive rebounds — I thought we did a good job of both (offensive and defensive) rebounding.”
The Bobcats finished with 39 rebounds (13 offensive rebounds) and the Mules had 27 rebounds.
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