MEDFORD, Mass. – For a record ninth time, the Bowdoin College women’s basketball team won the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championship, defeating top-ranked and undefeated Tufts on Sunday, 70-60.
The fourth-ranked Polar Bears (25-2) won the title for the first time since 2009 and avenged a regular season loss to the Jumbos (26-1) as well as a defeat at the hands of Tufts in last year’s NESCAC championship game.
With the victory, Bowdoin secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The bracket will be revealed on Monday at 2:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Despite the game being tight throughout, the Polar Bears never trailed in knocking off one of the final two unbeaten teams in Division III women’s basketball. The Polar Bears came out hot as a pair of Maddie Hasson layups sparked a game-opening 9-0 run for Bowdoin.
Tufts clawed back into the contest thanks to 12 first-quarter points from Erica DeCandido, rallying to tie the game at 19 apiece following 10 minutes of play.
Bowdoin pulled ahead again in the second quarter, opening the frame on a 10-2 surge to push its lead to 29-21 on a Hasson layup midway through the period. The Polar Bears were able to maintain that eight-point cushion, 40-32, into halftime.
Bowdoin pushed the lead to nine points early in the second half before Tufts stormed back. Eight points late in the frame from DeCandido led the charge for the hosts, as they trimmed the lead to just three points, 52-49, heading into the fourth.
Sadie Otley tied the game with a 3-pointer for Tufts just 18 seconds in the final period, but Bowdoin responded immediately with a bucket from Hasson and, after a defensive stop, a lay-in by Samantha Roy to spark an 8-2 spurt, giving the Polar Bears a 60-54 edge with under four minutes remaining.
Tufts’ Sofia Rosa cut the lead to 60-56 with under three minutes on the clock and, after the Jumbos held Bowdoin scoreless on its next possession, had two chances to cut further into the lead. With 2:27 remaining Megan Tan grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer by Cailin Harrington that would have cut the lead to one, and Bowdoin cycled the ball to the wing where Sela Kay lined up her sixth trey of the day, swishing it with 1:53 left and boosting Bowdoin’s lead to an insurmountable seven points, 63-56.
Hasson sealed the win for the Polar Bears with six free throws in the final minute to give Bowdoin the crown.
Hasson posted a double-double, recording 24 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of- 10 shooting from the field. Kay was outstanding as well for the second day in a row, posting 18 points on six 3-pointers to go with seven rebounds. Roy had nine points and four assists, while Annie Maher pitched in eight points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Polar Bears.
DeCandido scored 27 points with 10 rebounds in the loss for Tufts.
On Saturday, Bowdoin rolled to a 74-60 victory over No. 2 Amherst.
In the team’s first meeting this season, the Polar Bears were held scoreless in the opening frame. In the semifinal, Bowdoin had little trouble getting onto the board, outscoring the Mammoths 25-22 in the opening frame as Kay tallied 13 points.
Bowdoin began to pull away in the second period, scoring the first 10 points of the quarter. Keyed by seven points in the run from Tan, the Polar Bears pushed the lead to double-digits. The Polar Bears maintained an 11-point edge into halftime, 44-33.
The teams traded buckets to open the third quarter with Amherst cutting Bowdoin’s lead to nine points, 46-37, midway through the frame. Bowdoin took command of the game with a 9-2 surge, keyed by another Kay 3-pointer, to increase the lead to 16 points.
Kay scored a game-high 22 points in the win, with Hasson adding 17 points and 14 boards, and Roy 16 points, three assists and three steals.
Madeline Eck paced Amherst with 18 points.
Men’s hockey
Bowdoin saw its season come to an end in a 5-1 loss to Hamilton in the NESCAC quarterfinals on Saturday in Clinton, New York.
The Polar Bears concluded the year with a 12-12-1 overall record. The Continentals advanced to the semifinals with a 12-9-4 overall record.
Hamilton struck first late in the opening period as Bennett Morrison scored his first of the day at 16:16.
The Continentals padded their lead with a three-goal middle frame. Cam Radziwon scored just under three minutes into action, and Jordi Jefferson added another shy of the seven minute mark. Fred Allaire made it 4-0 with a tally with 6:04 remaining in the period.
Bowdoin broke through with 6:29 left in the game. After sustaining offensive pressure in the zone, Cam Berube put a shot on pads from above the left circle. Sean Storr made the save on Berube’s shot, but Ronnie Lestan waited on the far post to put back the rebound.
Hamilton capped the game with a power-play goal with 3:43 remaining.
Alex Zafonte made 24 stops for Bowdoin. Storr made 29 saves for Hamilton.
Indoor track
For the second straight season, Bowdoin placed fifth in the New England Division III Championship
The Polar Bears carded 52 points to edge host Middlebury for the top-five position.
Brittney McKinley won both the 60-meter run (7.82) and 200 (25.62), breaking her own 60 school record. Lydia Pitts placed third in the triple jump with a personal-record of 37-11.25. She also placed seventh in the 60 hurdles (9.35).
Caroline Shipley placed fourth in the mile with a PR of 5:02 and seventh in the 1,000 (3:02.89). Belinda Saint Louis placed seventh in the shot put (38-11.25), Emma Beane placed seventh in the 400 (59.25) and Sadie Saxton placed seventh in the 3,000, running a PR (10:24.38).
In the relays, the 4 x 400 team of Katherine Page, Morgen Gallagher, Fiona Ralph and Emma Beane placed sixth 4:05.63, while the 4 x 800 squad of Abby Osmanski, Cameron MacKenzie, Julia Zitzmann and Claire Traum placed fifth in 9:35.35. The distance medley relay of Abby Osmanski, Emma Beane, Claire Traum and Sadie Saxton placed fourth with a time of 12:24.60.
In men’s indoor track, Ryan Durkin set a school record in the pole vault as the Polar Bears placed 10th at Springfield College.
Durkin finished second overall, clearing at height of 15-05 to break the previous indoor pole vault mark of 14-09.25 set by Jonathan Todd in 2005.
Other top finishes included Mason Freeman (22-03.50) and Cheng Xi (22-03) going 7-8 in the long jump and Michael Donovan placing fifth in the shot put (48-05.50).
Freeman (7.05) and Troy Green (7.13) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 60, while Mateo Rivera (1:22.49) was fourth in the 600 race with Stevie Upton (1:23.91) in seventh.
Bowdoin’s top team event was the distance medley relay as the Polar Bears took seventh in 10:34.28 courtesy of John Auer, Soren Birkeland, Andrew Meredith and Luca Ostertag-Hill.
The Polar Bears will compete in the Tufts National Qualifier next Saturday in their final meet prior to the NCAA Division III Championship.
Nordic skiing
Bowdoin made history at the NCAA East Regional with a second-place finish in the highly competitive field.
The Polar Bears have enjoyed unprecedented success this season and posted a best-ever Carnival result this weekend. The Polar Bears compiled 402 points total to edge out host Middlebury (389) in the season’s final Carnival.
The men were second in Friday’s 10K skate and the women were third in the 5K skate. On Saturday, a pair of individual podium finishes set the tone for a third-place finish for the men and fourth for the women.
Head coach Nathan Alsobrook was named EISA Coach of the Year for the first time in his career, following the historic season for Bowdoin Nordic.
Friday’s skate track was firm and consisted of three loops leaving the stadium at various angles and offering a wide variety of terrain. The fast snow resulted in blistering finishes as Gabrielle Vandendries and Renae Anderson finished fifth and sixth, just 1.4 seconds apart. Lily Johnston finished in the top-25 to score for Bowdoin.
On the men’s side, Elliot Ketchel and Christian Gostout both finished in the top-10. Ketchel was fifth overall and Gostout posted an eighth-place finish. Peter Moore continued his outstanding first-year campaign with a 14th place finish. Cirque Gammelin finished top-30.
The Polar Bears did not slow down in Saturday’s classic events. Anderson picked up her first podium finish with a third-place showing. Vandendries finished two spots back in fifth.
Ketchel landed on the podium in day two, finishing third in classic. Gostout snuck into the top-10 with a ninth-place showing. Moore produced another strong race, finishing 12th. Zachary Ennis scored points for the Polar Bears with a 20th place result. Gammelin again finished top-30.
Multiple Polar Bears have qualified for the NCAA Championships held in Bozeman, Montana, on March 12-14.
Women’s lacrosse
Top-ranked Middlebury closed the game on a 4-1 run to defeat 13th-ranked Bowdoin on Saturday, 16-12, in the season opener for both squads.
The Polar Bears stand at 0-1 (0-1 NESCAC), while the Panthers moved to 1-0 (1-0 NESCAC).
Trailing 1-0, Middlebury rattled off the next five goals to lead 5-1 at the 17:56 mark. Jane Early scored twice, while Erin Nicholas cut through traffic to score a goal with a player advantage to close the surge.
Bowdoin answered the run with four straight tallies of its own, including two from Katie Miller, tying the game at 5-5 with 3:09 left in the first half. The teams exchanged the next two goals, leaving the game knotted at 6-6 at the intermission.
The Panthers started the second half by scoring five of the first six goals, moving ahead 11-7 when Earley scored through traffic with 20:28 on the clock. Emily Barnard tallied three of the five goals during the spurt, including twice on free position shots.
The Polar Bears refused to go away, as Fiona Bundy sandwiched a pair of goals around a tally from Kate McAloon, as Bowdoin made it a one-goal game (11-10) once again with 17:43 left to play.
Leading 12-11 with 10:38 remaining, Sarah Weppler put her team on top 13-11, before Nicholas scored on a bounce shot to make it a three-goal game (14-11) at the 6:51 mark.
Grace Getman gave the Panthers some more breathing room with 4:55 on the clock, while Weppler converted a pass from behind the goal by Barnard to put the game out of reach (16-11) with 1:49 remaining.
Bundy scored the game’s final goal as the Panthers emerged with the victory.
Bundy led all scorers with six goals, while Miller added two scores and two assists for Bowdoin. Morgan Pinado registered a team high four ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Kara Finnerty won six draws. Aaliyah Biondo made nine saves in goal for the visitors.
Bowdoin will play Plymouth State in its home opener on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Men’s lacrosse
Middlebury scored the first six goals of the game en route to a season-opening 16-12 NESCAC win over Bowdoin on Saturday.
The Panthers moved to 1-0 with the win, while the Polar Bears are 0-1.
Sparked by Tyler Forbes, the Panthers raced out of the gate. Forbes scored twice and assisted on two others to give the visitors the early 6-0 advantage.
Bowdoin finally broke through courtesy of Kendall Rogers at 5:10 of the opening quarter and closed the gap to 6-3 at the end of opening period.
The Polar Bears were able to close the gap to a single goal, 6-5, midway through the second quarter, but Middlebury replied with a 3-0 run heading into the break, capped by a pair of Danny Jacob tallies that gave the Panthers a 9-5 cushion at the half.
Consecutive goals by Matt Ward and Sam Langan out of intermission cut the Middlebury lead to two, but the Panthers stemmed the tied with a 3-0 run of their own, featuring a pair of scores by Michael McCormack that increased their lead to five goals.
Bowdoin was able to cut the lead to three goals on two occasions in the fourth quarter, coming within three at 14-11 with 10:32 to go. But A.J. Kucinski dashed the comeback hopes with a late goal and assisted on another as the Panthers held on for the four-goal win.
Bowdoin was led by five goals from Chris Fowler and four from Ward in the loss. Tyler Bass stopped 12 shots for Middlebury, while Bowdoin’s Jack O’Connor made 15 saves.
Bowdoin will return to action at Hamilton this upcoming Saturday at 1 p.m.
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