ROCHESTER, Minn.

Bowdoin College’s magical run through the NCAA Tournament came to an end on Saturday evening as the Amherst women’s basketball team repeated as Division III champions in a 65-45 victory at the Mayo Civic Center.

“It has been a great journey and I’m blessed to have shared this with these ladies,” said Bowdoin coach Adrienne Shibles. “It didn’t go our way today, but I am so proud of these ladies and it was one of the greatest joys of my life.”

The Polar Bears end a phenomenal campaign with a record of 29-3. Amherst finishes the season a perfect 33-0.

The game turned in the third quarter. With the game tied at 36, Amherst held Bowdoin scoreless for 10 minutes, using a 23-0 run for a 59-36 advantage with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter.

“I’ll give them a lot of credit,” said Shibles of Amherst. “They defended us on the perimeter exceptionally well. Our shot selection wasn’t phenomenal, and we didn’t hit. I give Amherst a lot of credit.”

Bowdoin opened the game by scoring the first four points of the contest, all from Cordelia Stewart, to take an early 4-0 advantage. The Mammoths responded with an 8-0 run, all courtesy of Emma McCarthy, as Bowdoin went cold from the field.

The Polar Bears settled down and rallied late in the frame, getting a late jumper from Kate Kerrigan and a Taylor Choate layup to tie the score at 8-8 after one period.

Amherst came out hot in the second quarter and got consecutive 3-pointers from Cam Hendricks and Hannah Fox to open up a seven-point lead, 20-13, midway through the stanza.

Bowdoin again responded with a 9-3 run, capped by a pair of Choate free throws, to close the gap to 23-22. The teams traded buckets down the stretch as the Mammoths carried a 26-23 lead into halftime.

Amherst connected on 47- percent of its shots in the opening half compared to 28-percent for Bowdoin, but the Polar Bears were able to stay close thanks to a 20-15 rebounding edge, including seven offensive boards.

The Polar Bears came out strong in the second half and grabbed a two-point lead (32-30) on a Kerrigan layup just three minutes into the third quarter. The teams traded baskets until the 3:21 mark when Choate hit a jumper to deadlock the score at 36-36.

The Polar Bears didn’t score again until a Lydia Caputi 3-pointer with 3:07 left.

Bowdoin struggled offensively, connecting on just 27- percent its shots compared to 48-percent for Amherst. The Polar Bears went 4-of-18 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 45-30 by the Mammoths, leading to 17 second-chance points.

Lauren Petit led Bowdoin with 12 points, while Choate added nine points and five assists. Kerrigan had six points, eight rebounds and a steal in her final collegiate game for Bowdoin.

“Enjoy every moment,” said an emotional Kerrigan in the post-game press conference. “You play basketball because you love it. It is an unbelievable game.”

McCarthy had 25 points and 12 rebounds for Amherst.

“She was certainly playing like it was her last game,” said Shibles of McCarthy.

Hannah Fox scored 12 points with seven rebounds for the Mammoths, who are riding a 66-game winning streak and back-to-back national titles.

Kerrigan was named as Bowdoin’s representative on the NCAA All-Tournament team.

The Polar Bears recorded the second-most wins in school history (29) and advanced to just the second Final Four in program history.

The three-member senior class of Kerrigan, Petit and Caputi finish their careers with 97 career victories.

Bowdoin 90,
Wartburg 62

In the semifinals on Friday, Bowdoin overwhelmed previously undefeated Wartburg (31-1), 90-62.

Bowdoin took control from the opening tip as Kerrigan dashed in for a game-opening hoop off the tip-off, sparking a 7-3 run for the Polar Bears.

Wartburg closed to within 7-6, but Stewart put home a three-point play to regain the four-point lead at 10-6 midway through the opening frame. From there, Abby Kelly took complete command of the game, knocking down consecutive 3-pointers to help Bowdoin build a commanding 28-12 lead after the first period. Bowdoin shot 12-of-22 (54.4-percent) in the first quarter.

Kelly continued to roll in the second quarter, connecting on 3-of-4 from long distance and 5-of-6 overall from the field.

The Knights were able to stay within striking distance thanks to five free throws as the Polar Bears did not attempt a single free throw in the second quarter and carried a 46-31 lead into halftime.

Wartburg gave Bowdoin its best shot in the opening minutes of the third quarter, opening the period on a 7-2 surge to cut the Polar Bear lead to 10 points, 48-38, with 7:46 left in the stanza.

But, Bowdoin proved unfazed and responded with a 12-0 run, featuring five points from Maddie Hasson, to push the lead to 22 points, 62-40, with 4:30 to go in the third.

The Polar Bears increased their lead to 72-49 entering the fourth quarter.

Sitting on 999 points entering the fourth quarter, Kerrigan delivered the knockout blow, cashing in a 3-pointer from the baseline with 7:45 to go, giving the Polar Bears an insurmountable 75-51 lead and becoming the 14th player in Bowdoin women’s basketball history to surpass 1,000 career points.

Kelly had 19 first-half points and ended with 23 for the game, including five treys. Petit had 16 points, including four 3-pointers, while Choate added 12 points and three steals. Kerrigan recorded a double-double with 11 points, 12 boards and six assists.

Katie Sommer led Wartburg with 16 points, five assists and four steals.