SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Bates College senior Meg Coffin passed the 1,000 career-points milestone, leading the Bobcats to a 77-52 win over William Paterson University in the first round of the Holiday Inn/Naismith Classic on Thursday at Springfield College.

Coffin, who entered the game with 993 points, scored 15 and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Her 1,000 point came in the middle of a 24-3 Bates run, which put the Bobcats (5-3) in the lead for good. Coffin is the 14th Bates woman to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

Junior Val Beckwith scored a game-high 17 point with four steals for the Bobcats, while senior Matia Kostakis dished a career-high nine assists to go with eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Yanofsky returned from a six-game injury stint to net 12 point, while senior Sarah Barton scored eight points with six assists.

William Paterson junior Asia Johnson scored 16 points for the Pioneers (7-3) and added a game-high 13 rebounds and three blocks.

Bates will face NESCAC rival Wesleyan today at 5:30 p.m. in the championship game. Wesleyan defeated host Springfield 70-55.

Men’s Basketball

St. Joseph’s 85, Colby 83

WATERVILLE – First-year guard Eric Friend nailed a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to lift St. Joseph’s to a 85-83 victory over Colby in collegiate men’s basketball action Thursday night.

The Monks (3-4) battled back from a seven-point deficit with 1:21 left in the game to go ahead 82-80 on a three-point shot by Alberto Rue with seven seconds left. Colby reclaimed the lead by one when Mark Gaudet nailed three straight free throws with less than one second left after he was fouled on a three-point shot.

Colby was paced by Artie Cutrone with 24 points, while Michael Russell added 15.