BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin and Bates women’s basketball teams have announced that the season opening Tip-Off Tournament will be named in honor of former Bates coach and administrator Marsha A. Graef.
Graef, a professor Emerita of physical education, coach and administrator in the Bates Department of Athletics for nearly 30 years, died on Nov. 16, 2015, at age 61, after a nearly three-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
The naming of the tournament as the Graef Memorial Classic is a tribute to her coaching tree. As the head women’s basketball coach at Bates from 1985-92, Graef tutored current Bowdoin coach Adrienne Shibles in her collegiate career, and Shibles hired current Bates head coach Alison (Smith) Montgomery as an assistant coach at Bowdoin in 2008.
On Nov. 18, Bates faces Norwich at 5 p.m. and Bowdoin hosts Central Maine Community College at 7 p.m. inside Morrell Gymnasium.
On Nov. 19, action moves to Lewiston as Bowdoin faces Norwich at 2 p.m., and Bates entertains CMCC at 4 p.m.
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