LEWISTON — With the first half winding down Thursday night, it appeared the tide was turning.

Bates College opened up a sizable lead in the first half, but the University of Maine at Farmington put a dent into that advantage and trimmed the deficit in half. It forced the Bobcats to call a quick timeout in hopes of getting things back on track.

“I think we kind of lost a little bit of our focus on defense,” Bates junior forward Chelsea Nason said. “The whole game we didn’t have much problem with offense. It was when we lost our focus on defense and lost a little intensity. Then we brought that back.”

It didn’t take long for Bates to reverse its fortunes. A quick pass found Nason in the corner for a 3. The Bobcats got a couple of defensive stops and added two more baskets to open the lead again. Bates never looked back in a 97-61 win in their home opener at Alumni Gym.

“We had gone 2-3 to try to switch it up a little bit,” UMF coach Jamie Beaudoin said. “I think we held them scoreless for five straight possessions. They came out of the timeout and with one pass it was a 3-point shot. That just changed how the half ended.”

UMF (0-3) was down by as many as 23 in the first half, but produced a 13-3 run to get within 13 at 38-25 with 3:10 left. Bates called a quick timeout and Nason hit the 3. Then Bernadette Connors scored off a fast break and followed that with a 3, making it 46-25. Bates scored on three consecutive possessions, eight points in 49 seconds.

“The next two possessions we played good defense and we went down and scored on both of those possession,” Bates coach Jim Murphy said. “Then 13 became (21). It changed the momentum.”

Nason finished with 17 points, including six 3s. Molly Brown and Connors each added 14.  Allie Coppola added six points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Bates set a team record with 15 3-pointers, including nine in the first half.

“The game’s a lot easier when you’re hitting shots,” Murphy said. “I think in the first half, we were over 50 percent from 3-point land.”

Meghan Smith had 14 points for UMF, while Kelly Pomerleau, a freshman from St. Dom’s, had 12. Elizabeth Ferry added 10.

“We did really good outside today,” Nason said. “We came out really strong. We work really well together. We all like to run. So we really mesh well. We got a lot of stops at the beginning and were able to push the ball up the floor.”

UMF had a solid start and traded baskets with Bates early on. A drive by Pomerleau had them down only 8-6 in the first few minutes.

“We did get off to a nice start for us,” Beaudoin said. “After our last game, that was one of our goals — to start out well offensively, and we did.”

The points started to dry up. Bates was able to force turnovers and block shots. It sparked the Bobcats on the other end and led to 18 consecutive points and a 26-6 lead.

“They did get after us defensively and kind of take us out of some things,” Beaudoin said. “Then offensively, they shot the ball extremely well. I was hoping they’d shoot that well on Saturday instead of today.”

The lead was as high at 35-12 late in the half. UMF shot just 35.3 percent from the floor in the first half while Bates was 54 percent from the floor overall.

The lead was 52-31 at the half. Bates opened the second half with a flurry of 3s to maintain the lead. Nason, Connors, Calvo and Brown all hit from beyond the arc, and the lead was up to 69-40.

“The kids are working hard,” Murphy said. “The first-year kids are getting in there and getting acclimated to college ball. Each and every time, the kids seem more comfortable and a little bit more confident. That will really help us as the season progresses.”

Emily Freedland and Alanna Morque added nine points each for Bates off the bench. The Bobcats had 11 different players score and eight different shooters hit 3s.

While Bates worked well as a team and moved the ball effectively, the Beavers showed their youth at times. UMF has just three seniors and 11 underclassmen.

“Games like this are going to make us better,” Beaudoin said. “It’s going to prepare us for our conference. Bates is going to be one of the better teams in the NESCAC.”

kmills@sunjournal.com