Bowdoin’s Maddie Hasson, shown during a regular-season game against Tufts, scored a game-high 24 points in Bowdoin’s 70-60 win over Tufts in the NESCAC championship game on Sunday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer Buy this Photo
Maddie Hasson, a senior captain of the Bowdoin women’s basketball team, knows very little about the Polar Bears’ first-round opponent in the NCAA Division III tournament.
“Right now we’re just excited to see the bracket come out,” Hasson said Monday afternoon of Brooklyn College. “We’re still focused on ourselves.”
Fresh off a championship victory in the New England Small College Athletic Conference title game over a previously unbeaten Tufts team playing on its own home court, Bowdoin (25-2) will play host to three teams this weekend in Brunswick.
Friday’s regional doubleheader gets under way at 5 p.m. with a game between Emmanuel (21-7) and New York University (20-5). In the nightcap, Bowdoin faces Brooklyn (21-6) at 7 p.m.
The winners will play Saturday night at 7 in the second round.
Ranked second in the nation, Bowdoin has its sights set on third straight appearance in the national championship game, scheduled for March 21 in Columbus, Ohio. To get there, the Polar Bears will have to win twice this weekend, then twice more March 13-14 in a sectional round that likely will be held in the Midwest, probably Iowa or Wisconsin.
“We’re all really excited to be playing at home this weekend,” said Hasson, who led all scorers with 24 points in Sunday’s 70-60 victory over Tufts (26-1) to secure an automatic NCAA bid. “We’re all energized and encouraged. Winning that conference championship was something we all wanted separately from the national tournament.”
Bowdoin isn’t the state’s only team in the NCAA tournament. Five-time North Atlantic Conference champion Husson University (19-8) of Bangor will travel to the Hudson Valley region of New York to play host SUNY New Paltz (24-3) Friday. DeSales (23-4) and Smith (24-4) are the other two teams in the New Paltz regional.
Bowdoin has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen 13 times in 19 previous NCAA tournaments and reached the Final Four three times. Tickets for this weekend’s games will be available at the door, $7 for adults, $4 for seniors (65+) and students. Bowdoin students are admitted free with a school ID.
“Everybody is healthy and feeling good,” Hasson said. “After celebrating for 24 hours, seeing the bracket come out is a reminder that there are still goals we want to achieve.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.