By KEVIN THOMAS

MEDFORD, Mass. — Bowdoin College looked like it might pull away in the second quarter, but Tufts was dominating the boards.

“That was our whole talk at halftime,” Bowdoin Coach Adrienne Shibles said.

It was a helpful conversation.

In a game between unbeaten national women’s basketball powers, Bowdoin finally rebounded while sprinting away with an 82-63 win Saturday at Cousens Gymnasium.

Maddie Hasson, the 5-foot-11 forward from South Portland, paced the Polar Bears with 21 points and seven rebounds. Abby Kelly scored 17 for Bowdoin. Point guard Samantha Roy added 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Erica DeCandido led Tufts with 20 points.

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The top-ranked Polar Bears improved to 12-0, 2-0 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. No. 4 Tufts dropped to 12-1, 1-1.

Both teams featured average winning margins around 40 points before Saturday. Only two teams scored over 60 against Tufts.

“I’m not used to giving up 82,” Tufts Coach Carla Berube said. “They came out for the second half charged up.”

Tufts stayed close, trailing 32-30 at halftime, with a 22-10 rebounding edge, including 10 offensive.

“We talked about going to the boards harder and having more people go to the boards,” Hasson said. “We saw Tufts three times last year and whoever won the battle of the boards won the game.”

In the second half, Bowdoin got nine offensive boards and outrebounded the Jumbos, 25-9.

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Tufts scored the first eight points of the third quarter for a 38-32 lead, but Bowdoin’s defense tightened and Tufts could not keep up. The Polar Bears outscored the Jumbos 50-25 from there.

Berube said rebounding was the difference, while crediting Roy’s “excellent” offense “and their role players, too. They played really hard and made the plays they needed to make.”

Shibles went with her usual liberal substitution plan, and brought in backup post players Cordelia Stewart and Olivia Ware to fill the paint.

Bowdoin shot 50 percent, including 6-of-10 on 3-pointers. Tufts shot 34 percent (4-of-21 3’s). Roy continually steadied the Polar Bears’ offense.

“In the second half we just kept things simple and settled in, looking for mismatches,” Roy said.

But this game was no breeze. In the first 12½ minutes, there were already five ties and seven lead changes.

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Bowdoin then took a 28-21 lead when Hasson scored six straight points. Tufts hung in until Bowdoin took over the rebounding.

Hasson also played stellar defense, keeping the Jumbos out of the paint.

“Maddie is really our rock right now,” Shibles said.

NOTES: The Polar Bears will host defending champion and seventh-ranked Amherst on Jan. 26.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: @KevinThomasPPH


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