LEWISTON, Maine – Bates College's Sarah Hughes scored a game-high 23 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter and overtime, and propelled the second-seeded Bobcats to a 67-64 overtime win against the Hamilton College Continentals in a 2026 NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinal inside Bates' Alumni Gym on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Season Update

• Hamilton (12-13 overall) won two of its final three regular season conference games and earned the seventh seed in the NESCAC championship.
• Nationally ranked No. 13/17 Bates (22-3) improved to 11-1 at home and advanced to the NESCAC semifinals.

How It Happened

• Erica Hills '28 scored 10 first quarter points as the Continentals jumped out to an 18-5 lead after 10 minutes of action. Bates shot 2-of-16 from the field in the first, including 0-of-5 from 3-point range. Hamilton scored the first nine points of the game, including a driving layup and a free throw by Kendall Harris '27. Elsa Daulerio converted Bates' first field goal with 3:19 left in the first to make it 12-3. Hills scored Hamilton's final six points of the quarter, and Hughes knocked down a jumper with 50 seconds remaining for her first points of the game.
• Hamilton relied on a balanced attack in the second, shooting 50% from the field for the second straight frame. Taylor Lambo '26 found Annabelle Semeter '28 for a layup at the left block with 6:55 left, then Harris rattled home a pullup jumper from the left side at the 6:19 mark to give Hamilton a 24-9 lead. Semeter converted a heavily contested layup from the right block with 1:47 remaining to extend Hamilton's lead to 32-12.
• Sophie Spolter scored in the paint during the next Bates possession, then Harris found a cutting Hannah Bernstein '28 for a layup with 55 seconds remaining, and the Continentals held a 34-14 lead at the intermission.
• Bates scored the first five points of the third on a jumper by Hughes and a triple from Ava James and trimmed the deficit to 34-19. The Bobcats collected six of their 18 total offensive rebounds in the third and shot 10-of-21 from the field. Back-to-back baskets by Spolter with 4:16 and 3:18 left brought the deficit to single digits at 39-30.
• Lambo dropped off a pass to Semeter for a layup with 1:31 left to make it 43-32.
• Bates scored six of the next seven points to trim its deficit to 44-38 with 13 seconds remaining.
• Hills swished a stepback 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give the Continentals a 47-38 lead heading into the fourth.
• Bates scored a 3-pointer and a layup on its first two possessions of the fourth to make it 47-43 with 9:18 remaining. The Bobcats grabbed their first lead of the game at 51-49 with 5:12 left following a layup by Hughes. Hills scored in the paint at the other end to tie the game at 51-51, then Harris sank a pullup jumper near the baseline to put Hamilton back in front with 2:18 left.
• A jumper by Daulerio tied the game at 53-53 with 2:35 left, then Harris scored five straight via a 3-pointer and a tough turnaround jumper, which gave Hamilton a 58-53 advantage and forced a Bates timeout with 50.9 seconds remaining.
• Hughes sank a 3-pointer out of the timeout, then Daulerio converted a putback layup with three seconds remaining to tie the game at 58-58 and force overtime.
• The Bobcats began the overtime period on a 6-0 run with a jumper by Daulerio and two layups by Hughes to take their largest lead of the game. Hills and Harris scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 66-64 with 13 seconds left. Hughes sank one free throw to make it a 3-point game, then Hamilton missed its final 3-point attempt with under two seconds remaining.

 

Notes

• Hills tied her season high of 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds.
• Harris finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
• Lambo grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists to go along with four points, two blocks and two steals in 44 minutes of action. She finishes her Hamilton career as the program leader in rebounds with 888, and ranks fourth all-time in points with 1,361.
• Semeter and Maggie Kernodle '29 added eight and seven points, respectively.
• Hughes finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
• Spolter recorded 17 points, four assists and three steals, while Daulerio registered 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
• James also chipped in 12 points for the Bobcats.