MONTCLAIR, N.J. — The Bowdoin women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a 15-point halftime deficit and lost 61-54 to Montclair State in an NCAA Division III third-round game Friday night at the Panzer Athletic Center.

The Red Hawks (29-1) will play Salisbury (28-2) in the regional final Saturday, with the winner advancing to the final four. The Polar Bears finished 25-5.

The Polar Bears trailed 33-18 at halftime and fell behind 43-26 with 13:39 left.

Sara Binkhorst, who led Bowdoin with 15 points, started a comeback with a 3-pointer, then added a layup after a turnover.

Bowdoin took advantage of turnovers and missed field goals by Montclair over the next six minutes and cut the lead to 46-40 on a another 3-pointer by Binkhorst. Binkhorst connected again from long range to make it 48-43 with 4:15 left.

The Polar Bears got as close as 54-50 after a free throw by Marle Curle (13 points) with 1:34 remaining.

Janitza Aquino led Montclair State with 15 points.

INDOOR TRACK

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Will Geoghegan of Brunswick finished seventh in the 5,000 meters at the Division I championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Geoghegan, representing the University of Oregon, was timed in 13 minutes, 56.11 seconds.

He’s scheduled to run the 3,000 on Saturday.

n Southern Maine’s Jamie Ruginski earned All-America honors for the fifth time in his career with a second-place finish in the long jump at the Division III championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Ruginski had a best jump of 23 feet, 6 inches. He’s the defending champion in the triple jump, which is scheduled for Saturday.

Sean Enos of Bates placed fifth in the weight throw at 64-31/4 and is now a six-time All-American. Tufts junior Mitchell Black of Brunswick was the top qualifier for Saturday’s 800-meter final.

In women’s events, Bowdoin’s Erin Silva was third in the pole vault (12-71/2), and Peyton Dostie became only the second indoor All-American in the history of the USM women’s program as she finished eighth in the pentathlon. Dostie broke her own school record with a time of 8.86 in the 60-meter hurdles and went on to score 3,391 points.

WOMEN’ LACROSSE

UNE 15, BRIDGEWATER STATE 9: Gina Newsome collected three goals and an assist and Jessica Deedon also scored three goals for the Nor’easters (2-3) in a win over the Bears (1-2) at Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

BASEBALL

MAINE WINS TWICE: Pinch-hitter Christia Garabedian singled home Shane Bussey with two outs in the bottom of the 10th of Maine’s first game, and Brett Chappell collected five RBI as the Black Bears (7-13) beat Illinois State and Bowling Green at Winter Haven, Florida.

Chappell had two RBI singles in a 5-4 win over Illinois State (7-8). He sent it to extra innings when he drove in Steven Adam in the ninth.

Chappell added two hits and three RBI in a 6-4 win over Bowling Green. He hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, an RBI groundout in the sixth and a run-scoring single in the eighth.

RHODES 10, SOUTHERN MAINE 2: Sam Dexter had two hits and an RBI, and Nick DiBiase also drove in a run for USM (4-1) in a loss to Rhodes (16-3) at Winter Haven, Florida.

STOCKTON 5, BOWDOIN 3: Keith Tappert had four hits, including a solo homer that started a four-run seventh inning for the Ospreys (4-4) in a win over the Polar Bears (1-4) at Winter Haven, Florida.

SOFTBALL

MAINE WINS TWICE: Alexis Bogdanovich pitched a three-hitter with 16 strikeouts and Janelle Bouchard had two hits and two RBI for the Black Bears (11-11) in a 4-0 win over Syracuse (9-13) at Clearwater, Florida.

Bouchard hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Rachel Carlson tripled in a run and scored on a bunt single by Erika Leonard in the third inning.

Molly Flowers and Annie Kennedy then combined on a two-hitter as Maine posted another shutout, 5-0 against Army (7-8). Rachel Harvey paced the offense with two hits and three RBI.

USM SPLITS: Erika Millett pitched a one-hitter and Amanda Hendrickson and Emily York each drove in two runs as the Huskies (4-2) beat Gordon (1-5) in five innings, winning 8-0 at Clermont, Florida.

Hendrickson hit a two-run double in a four-run first, and York hit a two-run single in the fifth.

Kristen Duross was the only repeat for USM in its second game of the day, a 2-1 loss to Becker (4-5).

ST. JOSEPH’S SPLITS: Carla Tripp’s two-run double and Kim Jordan’s two-run single highlighted a five-run fifth inning for the Monks (8-2) as they overcame a seven-run deficit against Curry (3-5), rallying for a 10-7 win at Fort Myers, Florida.

Earlier, St. Joseph’s stranded the potential tying run at third in the seventh inning of a 4-3 loss to Nazareth (5-4).

BOWDOIN SPLITS: Emily Griffin struck out eight while tossing a four-hitter, and Claire McCarthy hit a two-run triple for the Polar Bears (4-2) in a 6-3 win over Simmons (3-6) a Clermont, Florida.

Julia Geaumont had a pair of hits and scored a run for Bowdoin, which lost 8-1 to Minot State (13-4) in its first game of the day.

BATES LOSES TWICE: Kira Shaikh drove in two runs with a single and a double for Bates (0-4) in an 11-5 loss to Bethany (7-5) at Clermont, Florida.

The Bobcats lost 4-3 to Coast Guard (5-2) earlier in the day.