The Tommies, ranked eighth in the nation, fell to 5-3-1 after their first home loss of the year.
St. Thomas carried a 1-0 lead into the second period following a Hannah Burns goal midway through the opening frame. Bowdoin responded with a two-goal outburst in the second stanza, getting goals from Julie Dachille and Colleen Finnerty to take a 2-1 lead heading to the third.
Erika Bjorkman tied the game with the extra attacker for the Tommies 4:15 into the third period and Tara Baago put home another power-play goal at 14:48 to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.
That advantage was short-lived as MacNeil scored just 27 seconds later to deadlock the contest at 3-3 and send it to overtime.
In OT, Bowdoin won the opening face-off and the puck came to Bourque for the game-winning goal.
Dachille finished the game with three assists, while MacNeil added two. Lan Crofton stopped 40 shots in the win for Bowdoin.
Bowdoin made it a weekend sweep as Dachille and MacNeil each netted a pair of goals for a 4-1 win over Hamline University on Saturday night.
The Polar Bears improved to 6-1-2, while the Pipers fell to 2-7-1.
Despite being outshot through the opening period, the Pipers were first to find the back of the net as Chelsea Koehn opened the second period with a goal 1:35 into the frame.
MacNeil countered with a gametying goal with 4:06 remaining in the same period for a 1-1 tie heading to the third.
Dachille opened the final frame with the go-ahead goal 6:54 into play and continued adding to her point total with another about 10 minutes later. Bowdoin was finally able to convert on the power play as MacNeil tallied her second of the evening off a feed from Marne Gallant with just over two minutes remaining.
The Polar Bears were 1-of-5 on the power play. Bowdoin outshot the Pipers by a 28-18 margin and won 34 of 53 faceoffs.
Crofton made 17 saves for the Polar Bears, with Jessica Cole making 24 stops for Hamline.
The Polar Bears return to Watson Arenafora7p.m.NESCACmatchup against Connecticut College this upcoming Friday night.
Men’s basketball
Senior John Swords recorded a double double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Polar Bears to a 76-61 win over Southern Maine on Sunday evening.
Bowdoin improved to 7-3, while Southern Maine fell to 3-8.
Swords was 7-of-8 from the field and grabbed six offensive and defensive boards in the win. He was one of four Polar Bears in double figures, including Bryan Hurley, who totaled 17 points with eight boards and six assists. Lucas Hausman had 14 and Matt Palecki posted 12.
The loss ruined a fantastic performance by USM’s Jacob Littlefield, who posted a game-high 23 points. Zach Leal was the next leading scorer for the Huskies with eight points.
The visitors jumped ahead 15-9 in the early going thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Cole Libby and Littlefield, but Bowdoin battled back to tie the game at 19 apiece. The Polar Bears closed the half on a 9-4 spurt, capped by a driving Hurley lay-in, to take a 36-31 lead at the break.
Swords took over in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring eight early points to spark a 10-2 Bowdoin surge that extended the lead to 12 points. The Huskies stayed within striking distance and whittled the lead down to just four points, 55-51, following five straight points from Alex Fraser, but the Polar Bears answered with a 7-0 spurt that pushed the lead back to double figures with under five minutes to play.
The Polar Bears shot 50-percent from the field while holding USM to just 39.7- percent. The Polar Bears owned a 42-29 edge in rebounding and, thanks in great part to Swords, scored 42 points in the paint to seal the victory.
Bowdoin will return to action at Bridgewater State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Women’s basketball
Sara Binkhorst matched her career high with 32 points to lead Bowdoin to a 75-56 win over Rhode Island College on Sunday afternoon at Morrell Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears improved to 10-2 with their seventh consecutive win. Bowdoin’s average margin of victory has been 26 points over its current winning streak. The Anchorwomen dropped to 2-9.
Binkhorst’s output matched her career-high set against Hamilton in January 2014. The senior co-captain was 10-of-15 from the field, including 3- for-5 from long distance and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Shannon Brady finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Kate Kerrigan scored eight points with four rebounds and three steals. Megan Phelps pitched in eight points off the bench for Bowdoin.
Jess Korzec led Rhode Island College with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Devin Hill had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Anchorwomen.
The Polar Bears held a nine-point lead at halftime, 31-22, and extended their advantage to 15 points early in the second period following a pair of Binkhorst free throws. RIC rallied to trim it to nine points after a trey from Jill Paladino and were able to stay within shouting distance of Bowdoin until a 9-2 surge, capped by a Binkhorst trifecta, pushed the Polar Bear lead to 17 points with under two minutes to play.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Tuesday night at Emmanuel (7 p.m.).
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