By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – It seemed like only a matter of time before its offense matched its defense.

It took longer than the Bates women’s basketball team expected, but by the second half, the Bobcats offensive surge finally arrived.

Bates opened the second stanza with a 15-0 run and never looked back in a 61-39 triumph over Tufts in a NESCAC quarterfinal game at Alumni Gymnasium.

“We started to click in the second half,” said Bates sophomore center Meg Coffin. “We played our kind of basketball. We rebounded well. We ran. Our intensity was still strong, and our shots were falling. I thought we had the momentum the whole second half, and we never let down either.”

Coffin had six points during the run that turned a 25-18 halftime lead into a 40-18 advantage. Coffin finished with 13 points, while Olivia Zurek had 22 points and seven boards for the Bobcats (23-1). Bates advanced to the NESCAC Final Four next weekend at Bowdoin.

“I just think that we made shots,” said Bates coach Jim Murphy. “I think once we relaxed a little bit, it’s always nice when the first couple of shots fall.”

Bates is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the d3hoops.com poll, but is seeded second to Bowdoin in the NESCAC tournament.

Tufts (14-11), which lost to Bates 76-66 last weekend, received 10 points each from Jessica Powers and Valerie Krah.

Bates offense struggled to pick up steam in the first half when Bates shot 35.5 percent. Though the Bobcats built a double-digit lead, they couldn’t put the Jumbos away.

“I think our shots didn’t fall in the first half,” said Coffin. “That was a big issue.”

Tufts had a woeful first half offensively. The Jumbos shot just 26.9 percent and had 11 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. Tufts missed its first six shots and sank just one of its first 11.

“I think it all starts with defense,” said Coffin. “We’ve got to be an incredibly intense and aggressive team defensively. If we play our game, even when our shots don’t fall, I think we’ll be alright.”

It didn’t take long in the second half for the Bobcats to rev up the offense. On its first two possessions, Bates got the ball inside nicely for baskets by Sarah Barton and Coffin. Zurek then fed Coffin in the post again.

“I think our intensity, we stepped it up even more,” said Coffin. “We were more focused. We knew what we had to do, and we did it. We executed.”

The early baskets inside created some space. Betsy Hochadel hit a jumper from the corner. Zurek scored on a drive through the lane and Hochadel followed with a 3-pointer. Another Coffin basket ended the run with 13:38 left in the game.

Tufts cut the deficit to 16 at one point, but couldn’t sustain much against the Bobcats. Bates received some strong play off the bench from Kyla Decato, Becca Buckler, Leah Schouten and Annie Whiting, who added eight points, in the second half.

“I thought our defense both halves was very, very good,” said Murphy. “If you hold someone to 39 points, you’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”