BRUNSWICK

The Bowdoin College women’s basketball team stormed third-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.), 80-68 to win the 2017 Skidmore Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

The Polar Bears (2-0) entered the weekend ranked 23rd in the WBCA Division III poll. St. Thomas (1-1) lost for just the second time in its last 34 games.

Abby Kelly was named the Tournament MVP, while Kate Kerrigan also captured All-Tournament honors.

The Polar Bears were in control from the start against the Tommies, hitting their first six 3-pointers and jumping out to a 32-19 lead after one quarter. Bowdoin extended its lead to 48-32 at halftime after a first half that saw the Polar Bears shoot 68-percent from the field and 77-percent from 3- point range.

The Polar Bears extended their lead to as many as 19 points in the second half. The Tommies made a late push, cutting the lead to nine points with 6:46 remaining and had a chance to get closer, but Kelly and Kerrigan knocked down consecutive treys to push the lead back into double figures with under five minutes to play.

Bowdoin finished at 53.7- percent shooting for the contest, and hit 10-of-20 from long distance in the win. The Polar Bears held a commanding 36-23 edge in rebounding and got 19 points from their bench compared to nine for St. Thomas.

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Kelly was outstanding, knocking down 11-of-18 shots from the field and finishing with a career-high 27 points and eight rebounds. Kerrigan ended with 11 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while Lauren Petit added 11 points as well.

Bowdoin cruised to a dominant season-opening win over host Skidmore College on Friday evening with a 76- 42 victory.

The Polar Bears (1-0) jumped to a 23-9 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Kelly had six early points as Bowdoin led 12-2 early.

Four Bowdoin players saw double figures, led by 13 from Kerrigan, who also had five rebounds and five steals. Kelley had 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and four assists, while Taylor Choate and Petit had 11 points apiece.

Bowdoin hosts the University of New England on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. inside Morrell Gymnasium.

Men’s basketball

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Bowdoin used an outstanding defensive effort in the second half to pull away from Westfield State, 67-61, on Saturday afternoon to win the 2017 Rick Martin/Holiday Inn Tournament.

The Polar Bears opened the season 2-0 and dealt the host Owls (2-1) their first loss of the campaign.

A tightly-played first half saw Westfield State own a slight 38-36 edge. The Owls extended their lead to as many as seven points in the second half, taking 49-42 lead with 13:56 to go.

Bowdoin clamped down defensively from there, holding Westfield to just 12 points over the final 13 minutes of play.

With the game tied at 55 with under four minutes to play, Bowdoin took command, getting a hoop-and-harm from David Reynolds to take a 58-55 lead. Hugh O’Neil finished off feed from Zavier Rucker to make it 60-55 with 3:21 to go.

Bowdoin connected on seven free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.

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Jack Simonds led Bowdoin in scoring for the second straight day, totaling 16 points and nine rebounds. O’Neil finished with 11 points and 11 boards, while Reynolds scored 15 and had six caroms. Stephen Ferraro led a solid effort by the Bowdoin bench with 10 points and four steals.

Bowdoin opened the tournament with an 80-74 victory over St. Lawrence on Friday.

Simonds was outstanding, scoring 24 points, including 10-of-10 from the free-throw line to put the game on ice. He also grabbed seven rebounds for the Polar Bears.

The Polar Bears will return to action with their home opener on Tuesday evening against the University of New England at 7:30 p.m. at Morrell Gymnasium.

Men’s hockey

Bowdoin split in its opening NESCAC weekend on the road, falling at Williams and downing Middlebury.

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On Sunday in Vermont, the Polar Bears (1-1, 1-1 NESCAC) received 39 saves from Alex Zafonte en route to a 2-0 victory over Middlebury (0-2, 0-2 NESCAC).

The Polar Bears opened the scoring at the 11:43 mark of the first period. Bowdoin cycled the puck behind the Panther net, with Jack Bliss centering a pass from below the goal line to Pat Geary, who lifted the puck under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.

Middlebury responded with offensive pressure as Vincent Gisonti deflected a pass that Zafonte stopped with his right pad, before he made a blocker save on a shot from the high slot by Kamil Tkaczuk. Zafonte stopped a third-period blast from the point to keep Middlebury off the board with nine minutes off the clock. Zafonte denied the rebound bid as well.

Bowdoin added an insurance goal with 7:44 left in the contest, as Thomas Dunleavy poked home a rebound from inside the crease with an assist from Ronnie Lestan for a 2-0 lead.

Stephen Klein finished with 27 saves for Middlebury.

Bowdoin opened the season on Saturday, falling to Williams, 4-3.

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The teams traded first-period goals, with Nick Van- Belle getting the Ephs on the board just 5:06 into the contest. Bowdoin took advantage of a late penalty against Williams as senior captain Daniel McMullan fed fellow senior captain Matthew Lison on the doorstep with 19 seconds left in the frame to tie the contest.

Williams regained the lead 2:53 into the second period on a shorthanded goal, but Bowdoin answered less than two minutes later on the power play as Thomas Dunleavy deadlocked the contest for the Polar Bears at 4:25

The Ephs closed the frame with a pair of goals from Myles Cunningham and Marcus Mollica, to take a 4-2 edge into the third.

Bowdoin outshot Williams in the final frame and was able to cut into the lead as Bradley Ingersoll put home his first collegiate goal at 16:09.

Peter Cronin made 19 saves for Bowdoin, while Stephen Morrissey made 17 saves for Williams.

Bowdoin hosts the University of New England on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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Swimming & Diving

Bowdoin opened the 2017- 18 season with a dual meet against WPI and MIT on Saturday afternoon.

The women defeated WPI, 183.5-78.5, but fell to MIT, 196- 97. The men suffered setbacks to both MIT (250-43) and WPI (153-108).

Marshall Lowery swept the backstroke events in the women’s meet, capturing a 100 victory in 58.45 and 200 win in 2:09.19. First-year Nadia Eguchi opened her collegiate career with a win in the 1,000 free (10:49.16) and second-place finish in the 500 (5:18.04). Sterling Dixon added a victory in the 200 free (1:55.38), and teammate Linnea Patterson broke two minutes in the event for the first time in regular season competition.

Diver Waverly Harden completed a full list on both boards, including a brand new dive to complete her six-dive set.

The women defeated WPI in every event except the 100 breaststroke.

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In the men’s meet, first-year Michael Tirone began his career by breaking a minute (59.96) in the 100 breaststroke. Geoff Chen placed second in the 200 IM (1:56.83) for the highest finish of any Bowdoin men’s swimmer at the meet.

Karl Sarier turned in a top three finish in the 200 free (1:45.53) and Daniel Williams did the same in the 1,000 free (10:53.33).

Bowdoin hosts the Maine State Meet Dec. 1-2 at Greason Pool.

Cross country

Bowdoin junior Ben Torda finished 54th individually at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Torda finished the 8K course in 25:08.8 in extremely blustery conditions, charging up from 64th place with a mile to go to take 54th overall among the 279 competitors. He was the ninth-place finisher among New England region competitors.

Darin Lau of Wisconsin- Eau Claire won the individual title in 24:03.6, while North Central ran away with the team crown by 139 points over its next closest competitor.


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