Kaitlin Donahoe had 18 points, all in the second half, to pace the Polar Bears, who were playing in their 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament. Jill Henrikson of Bath had 14 points in the loss, netting 10 in the first half. Amy Hackett led Bowdoin with seven rebounds.
Hannah Munger connected on 7-of-9 from the field in posting 18 points and 11 rebounds to go with four assists and four blocked shots for George Fox. Keisha Gordon added 14 points and eight rebounds, Arianna Mohsenian scored 12, and Megan Arnoldy had 10 for the Bruins.
The game got off to a slow start offensively, George Fox scoring the only two points of the first four minutes on a layup by Munger. The Bruins hit only one of their first five shots while the Polar Bears were 0-for-5. A 3-pointer by Jami Roos and a basket by Breezy Rinehart-Young made it 7-0 Bruins before Bowdoin got on the board with a jumper by Alexa Barry at the 14:54 mark.
Noone scored for the next three minutes before the Bruins got consecutive goals by Munger, Mohsenian and Arnoldy for a 13-2 lead with 9:39 left in the half. Henrikson’s layup ended the Bruin run, and an 8-0 outburst, fueled by 3-pointers from Allie Piscina and Henrikson, cut the Bruin lead to 19-16 with 4: 39 to go. An Ellery Gould hook-shot layup made it 23-21 with 1:19 left, but a ‘3’ by Mohsenian and two Munger free throws gave the Bruins a 28-23 halftime advantage.
A three by Kaitlin Donahoe pulled the Polar Bears within four at 32-28 two minutes into the second half, but then the Bruins got hot. Over the next five minutes, George Fox went on a 15-2 run, capped by a three from Cusick, to make it 47-30 with 12:51 left. Mohsenian hit a last-second jumper and a three to make it a 20-point game at 52-32 with 10:30 to go, and the Bruins remained comfortably in front the rest of the way. The Bruins’ largest lead of the game was 23 points at 68-45 following a pair of Gordon free throws with 1:24 to play. The final score was as close as the Polar Bears got in the final 12 minutes.
George Fox blistered the nets in the second half, hitting .727 (16-22) to finish with an overall field goal percentage of .563 (27-48). Bowdoin was held to a .345 mark (20-58), and suffered a 37-25 deficit on the boards.
The loss concludes the exceptional career of Bowdoin’s five-member senior class of Amy Hackett, Henrikson, Nicole Coombes, Gould and Barry. All five served as starters during their career and accumulated 91 career wins, four consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, three straight “ Sweet Sixteen” bids and the 2009 NESCAC Championship.
Indoor track
Bowdoin’s men’s distance medley relay team won the Division III national championship on Friday evening at Grinnell College in a time of 9:59.67.
The team of Coby Horowitz, Matthew Gamache, Colin Fong and Matthew Hillard established a championship meet record with the time, besting Wisconsin- Stevens Point by 0.3 seconds. It is the first indoor national title in school history.
Bowdoin was among the top three for the majority of the race and, entering the final lap, Hillard stood in second place behind Middlebury’s Michael Schmidt. Hillard made a powerful kick to pass Schmidt and pull away from the field. Hillard held off a late push by UWSP’s Dan Sullivan and Bates’ Noah Graboys to take the victory.
Other Bowdoin performances on Friday included Erin Silva’s 12th-place finish in the pole vault (11-09.75) and Annie Huyler’s 14th-place showing in the pentathlon (3,154 points). Chantal Croteau (13th in mile prelims, 5:08.99) and Elsa Millett (10th in 400 meter prelims, 57.53) did not qualify for Saturday’s finals in their respective events.
Women’s lacrosse
Bowdoin sprinted to a 3-0 lead and never trailed in an 11-6 season-opening win over Connecticut College Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field.
The Polar Bears (1-0), ranked fourth nationally, have won their last nine home games dating back to last March and will host Wheaton on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p. m. The Camels (0-1) will host Tufts on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Bowdoin received a gamehigh four goals from Carolyn Gorajek, while Elizabeth Clegg (two goals, two assists) and Katie Herter (one goal, three assists, five draw controls) helped pace the Polar Bear offense. Katie Stewart had two goals, five caused turnovers and four ground balls, while Olivia King pitched in five draw controls and a team-best five ground balls.
The Camels were led by three goals and an assist from Katelyn Driscoll. Libby Nichols and Lowell Abbott had a goal and an assist each in the loss.
Bowdoin scored the game’s first three goals as Chelsea Albright, Clegg and Gorajek got the home team started. After Abbott scored the Camels’ first tally with 6:48 left in the opening period, Bowdoin rolled off a decisive 6-0 surge over an 18-minute stretch spanning halftime into the second stanza. By the time Herter capped the run with 17:49 left, the Polar Bears held a 9-1 advantage.
Tara Connolly stopped seven shots in the victory for Bowdoin, while Kelsey Burke made nine stops for the Camels. Bowdoin held a 33-16 edge and hit five posts in the game. The Polar Bears also held a key 13-6 advantage in draw controls.
Men’s lacrosse
Patrick Lawlor scored a pair of goals and Chris Williamson made ten saves to lead Bowdoin to a 7-5 win over host Connecticut College in its season debut on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears (1-0) dominated the time of possession and held a 47-25 advantage in shots, but the Camels ( 0-1) stayed within striking distance thanks to 27 saves from goaltender Rob Moccia.
Griffin Cardew chipped in with a goal and two assists, while senior Brendan Hughes keyed the possession game by winning 10-of-15 faceoffs and collecting five ground balls for the Polar Bears. Connecticut College midfielder John Lyons finished with two goals and an assist.
The Polar Bears netted a pair of goals in a 55 second span of the second period, taking a 4-1 lead when Dan Hanley buried a one-timer on a feed from Cardew with 4:35 remaining in the opening half. But the Camels ended the half with a flurry, scoring twice with under 3:30 to play to trim the Bowdoin lead to 4- 3 at intermission.
The hosts pulled even when Lyons elevated for a shot from the top of the box with 9:43 remaining in the third quarter. But the Polar Bears scored the next two goals, first from Lawlor at 6:15 and then capped the period with an extra man score from Billy Bergner with 30 seconds left to carry a 6-4 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Camels pulled to within a goal when Chad Sawyer scored 1: 54 into the fourth quarter. But Bowdoin held possession for most of the rest of the way and Franklin Reis added an insurance marker with 8:32 remaining to close out the scoring.
In addition to holding a sizable shot advantage, Bowdoin grabbed 35 ground balls to 25 for Conn. College and were nearly perfect (17-18) in clears on the afternoon. Lawlor and Keegan Mehlhorn corralled a game-high six ground balls apiece for the Polar Bears.
Bowdoin is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday in Florida, when the Bears take on Nazareth at 2 p.m. in Clermont.
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