BRUNSWICK – Host Bowdoin College raced out to a 21-14 first-quarter lead after what some would call a “slow” start and never looked back, defeating fifth-seed Middlebury, 84-58 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference Semifinals in packed Morrell Gymnasium at the school on Saturday.
The win pits the top-seeded Polar Bears (26-0) against third-seeded Tufts (24-2) in Sunday’s final at 12 p.m. It is the 11th time that Bowdoin has reached the NESCAC Championship, first since 2015. Middlebury fell to 19-7 and will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament when announced next week.
Bowdoin defeated Tufts on the road, 82-63 on Jan. 5.
With the teams trading baskets to open the contest, the Polar Bears broke a 6-6 tie with an 11-0 run, taking advantage of five Panther turnovers, capped by a Hannah Graham trey to give Bowdoin a 17-6 lead late in the quarter. Alex Huffman and Colleen Caveney each sank 3-point baskets for Middlebury, but Bowdoin’s Sam Roy made two free throws to end the frame pushing the Polar Bear lead to seven after 10 minutes of play.
“It’s huge to have a strong start,” Bowdoin coach Adrienne Shibles said. “We didn’t want to give them any confidence like they had last game.”
Bowdoin’s Maddie Hasson drives to the basket against Middlebury in Saturday’s NESCAC Semifinal match at Bowdoin College. (Brian Beard / CIP Photography)
Bowdoin escaped with a 62-58 win at Middlebury earlier this month.
“We didn’t come out with that attack mentality that we wanted to last time,” Roy said. “This is the playoffs and anything can happen, so we knew we wanted to shut them down early.”
Bowdoin continued it’s pressure on the Panther offense to begin the second that included a steal from Maddie Hasson before the 5-foot-11 forward went coast-to-coast, drawing a foul and completing the three-point play.
The Polar Bears used their strong play at the guard position to force turnovers and begin the transition game. A 3-point basket by Bowdoin’s Taylor Choate with less than five minutes to play in the half brought the crowd to its feet, prompting a timeout by Middlebury coach KJ Krasco.
“Bowdion’s a great transition team, and especially at home,” Krasco said. “Their crowd is amazing. I told our kids that this is going to be one of the best environments they’re going to play in.”
Hassan and Graham held their own underneath, aware of the rebounding struggles the team experienced at Middlebury.
“We struggled to get an offensive flow last game,” Hasson said. “We focused a lot on offense, but we also know when we get stops on defense, our offense will come.
“We were focused on locking down the defense and getting box outs because they obviously have some good rebounders.”
“We doubled them in the post,” Shibles said of Saturday’s effort against the Panthers. “I thought that part of the game plan worked very well.
They’re very strong in the paint, we needed to do that because we are a little bit undersized in comparison and I thought the women executed the game plan very well.”
Bowdoin closed out the half with 22 second-quarter points, receiving nine from Choate, seven from Hasson and six from Roy in the frame.
“It’s hard, they’re undefeated for a reason,” Krasco said of covering all of Bowdoin’s weapons. “You can’t focus on any one or two players. They’re a good team, they’re deep.”
Bowdoin forced 15 first-half turnovers, scoring 15 points as a direct result.
Roy led all scorers at the break with 13 points. Choate followed with 10. Each team grabbed 17 rebounds, while the Polar Bears were a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Pulling away
The Polar Bears came out in the second half with the defensive press, creating three more Middlebury turnovers behind a pair of Roy
Bowdoin’s Sam Roy drives to the basket against Middlebury in Saturday’s NESCAC Semifinal match at Bowdoin College. (Brian Beard / CIP Photography)
steals, to jump further ahead, 52-26 minutes into the half.
“Their ability to get out and run separated them from us,” Krasco added. “Sam Roy played a great game as their guard play was very strong and took it to us today.”
Leading by 22 points, Hasson kept patrol underneath like it was a tight ball game, and the junior from South Portland wasn’t letting up. Her put-back with 4:20 left in the third forced another timeout by Middlebury.
“We know going into every game that Maddie is going to be quicker and smarter than her opponent and she’s going to do it night in and night out,” Hassan’s roommate Roy said.
An eight-point advantage in the third quarter extended the Polar Bear’s lead to 64-39 heading into the final frame.
The teams played out the fourth quarter, using the time to bring in bench players, but also continue working on their game on the way to the 84-58 final score.
“This is a huge game for us to grow from, playing in this environment, in this type of game,” Krasco said. “I’m proud of our kids, proud of the way our four seniors have made an impact to our program from taking us from the bottom to the top.”
“I was really impressed with our intensity and our consistency through all four quarters,” Shibles said.
Bowdoin finished with all five starters scoring double digits, receiving 20 from Roy, 13 from Choate, 12 from Abby Kelly, 11 from Hasson and 10 from Graham.
“It’s a huge luxury,” Shibles said about the all of the different scorers. “To hear the balance of our scoring today, that says a lot about our depth and how we share the ball and are unselfish.”
Roy also had four assists and four steals.
“She’s a warrior,” Krasco added. “She was exceptional getting to the rim, her pull up was there, she gave us a little bit of everything today.”
“Whether or not she’s scoring 20 points, she’s our leader and usually guards the other team’s point guard, stopping the other team’s offense,” added Hasson.
Bowdoin finished 20-for-21 (95.2%) from the free-line and 46.2-percent from the field (30-65). The Polar Bears forced 29 Middlebury turnovers, aided by 18 Bowdoin steals.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
