BANGOR – Normally, when two transition-oriented basketball teams square off, you’re going to have a lot of turnovers.

That was the case in Wednesday’s women’s college matchup between Bates College of Lewiston and Husson College, who combined for a whopping 62 turnovers.

In the end, the speedy Bobcats forced more miscues – 39 to be exact, and pulled away for a 74-60 victory over the Eagles at Husson’s Newman Gymnasium.

Bates, coming off a loss to third-ranked University of Southern Maine, improves to 3-1 while Husson drops to 1-2.

The Eagles led 34-33 at the break, but the Bobcats’ full-court trap and the inside play of 6-foot center Matia Kostakis (28 points, 12 rebounds) took over after intermission.

“I think defensive pressure [was the difference], we forced a lot of turnovers,” said Bates coach Jim Murphy. “I think we shot the ball better a lot in the second half.”

The Bobcats broke it open early in the second half, forcing 12 Husson turnovers in a seven-minute span. Two Val Beckwith free throws with just under nine minutes to play gave Bates its largest lead of the night at 58-44.

Husson got no closer than 11 after that.

“Once it got up to 10, I think [Husson] rushed a couple of things,” Murphy said. “I thought our defensive pressure was good.”

Beckwith scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half.

Murphy was impressed with Husson’s up-tempo style of play and their strong rebounding.

“I was very impressed with Husson, they gave us all we could handle, I’ll tell you that,” he said.

“We’ve just got to do a better job on the boards,” he added.

Husson did out-rebound Bates 39-31, which was one of a few bright spots for Kissy Walker’s club.

“I thought we did a nice job rebounding, that’s always something we’re working on,” Walker said. “We’re disappointed it got away from us but Bates is a really good team.”

The Eagles received a spark from the inside play of Jodie Merchant and Shelby Pickering.

Pickering led the Eagles with 17 points off the bench and Merchant added 14.

“Shelby’s quick inside and she takes it to the hoop real well,” Walker said. “Jodie, for her size, she has pretty good quickness and can take it to the hoop.”

The turnovers, however, did not help.

“Thirty-nine turnovers, you’re not going to win ballgames with that,” Walker said. “We know we still need to work on when teams pressure us like that and not to panic.”

Coming into the contest, Walker was aware of the aggressive pressure that the Bobcats were going to throw Husson’s way.

“Bates is always an aggressive defensive team and we knew that coming in,” she said. “We just couldn’t pull it together.”

Senior center Annie McIntosh contributed eight points and 12 rebounds and Jenny Rollins eight points for Husson.

BOBCATS 74, EAGLES 60

Bates (3-1) Husson (1-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Goodridge 2 6 0 0 4 Ballard 2 10 6

Barton 1 6 1 2 4 Archer 1 1 3

Beckwith 9 16 2 2 20 Merchant 7 11 0 1 14

Kostakis 10 20 8 9 28 Gracie 0 1 2

Franklin 2 10 0 0 4 McIntosh 4 8

Fitzgerald 0 1 0 1 0 Pickering 7 13 3 5 17

Yanofsky 2 6 1 2 5 Wickstrm 0 1

Bystrom 0 0 0 0 0 Barnes 0 1 0

Lanchantin 3 6 2 2 9 Hichborn 0 0

Rollins 3 7 2 8

Dow 0 0 1 1

Al.Brgdon 0 0 0

Totals 29 71 14 18 74 Totals 24 53 10 17 60

Bates 33 74

Husson 34 60

3-pt. goals – Bates (2-15): Barton 1-4, Beckwith 0-2, Lanchantin 1-1, Goodridge 0-2, Franklin 0-4, Fitzgerald 0-1, Yanofsky 0-1; Husson (2-8): Ballard 1-4, Archer 1-1, Wickstrom 0-2, Rollins 0-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)