BRUNSWICK

It was a long week for the Bowdoin College women’s basketball team.

Six days after dropping their first game of the season at Amherst, the third-ranked Polar Bears returned to the friendly confines of Morrill Gymnasium on Friday against Middlebury in a NESCAC contest.

After a close first half, Bowdoin pulled away in the second for a 70-52 victory for the team’s 20th win of the campaign.

“It was a long week” acknowledged Bowdoin coach Adrienne Shibles, whose Polar Bears went back to work this week after their struggles at Amherst last Saturday, a 49-45 loss to the top-ranked team in the D3hoops.com poll. “We worked a lot this week on shot selection and execution. It was about digging in and getting better. This was an opportunity for improvement and we approached it like that.”

In the second half, Bowdoin found a rhythm, led by defensive stalwart Kate Kerrigan, who had a team-leading 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Sophomore guard Sam Roy had a solid game. Despite being the smallest player on the court, Roy often drove to the basket. And, when left open on the outside, Roy nailed a pair of key 3-pointers and led the Polar Bears with 13 points.

“We knew the rest of the NESCAC was looking to see how we responded from a loss,” said Roy.

Close first half

Bowdoin came out strong, going inside to Cordelia Stewart for easy layups and a 10-2 lead, forcing a Middlebury (15-6, 4-3 NESCAC) timeout. Roy entered the game and drained a trey for a 13-4 lead, and her scoop on the inside made it a 15-6 contest.

“At Amherst, we shot a lot of threes, and we didn’t make any, so we emphasized to take only open threes. A contested three was not a good shot,” Shibles said.

Middlebury pushed back, closing to 16-10 by the end of the opening period. The Panthers worked inside, with Catherine Harrison and Maya Davis doing the dirty work in the paint.

Bowdoin shooters went ice cold in the early stages of the second quarter, and Middlebury took full advantage. Trailing 18-10, a 13-2 run led by Colleen Caveney’s two 3- pointers gave Middlebury a 23-20 lead.

Shibles called a timeout, and her Polar Bears found their footing, with Abby Kelly scoring seven points as Bowdoin claimed a 30-29 halftime lead.

In the locker room, Shibles and her coaching staff made a few adjustments.

“We talked about the fact that they were scoring by getting a pass through, and we had to do a better job on the half-court defense,” said Shibles. “We stopped them from getting down into the paint. Defense is super important for us.”

“We needed to recognize that their point guard was fast and we had to work harder on the man-to-man defense,” said Roy. “We knew they would switch, so we looked for those mismatches.”

Kerrigan was held scoreless in the first half, but didn’t stay that way in the third. Her steal and layup tied the contest at 32, and a long trey off a pass from Roy ended an 11-2 Bowdoin run for a 43-34 lead with 4:58 remaining in the frame.

“Kate has been sick all week, but she is our defensive captain and she made a difference tonight,” said Shibles.

Middlebury used long-distance shots to stay in it, with Kira Waldman and Betsy Knox hitting from beyond the arc to get the Panthers to 49-43 after three.

But, there was no stopping Bowdoin in the fourth quarter. The Polar Bears put up 21 points, with Roy scoring six and Hannah Graham adding four inside as Bowdoin pulled away for the 18- point victory.

Kelly had 12 points for Bowdoin, while Maddie Hassan chipped in nine points and nine rebounds. Brunswick native Lydia Caputi and Stewart finished with eight points apiece, and Taylor Choate dished out four assists and added six points.

Alex Huffman, Caveney and Davis led Middlebury with 10 points each.

Bowdoin shot 39.3-percent (24-of-61) from the floor and made 16-of-22 at the free-throw line. Middlebury was 18-of-52 (34.6 percent) from the field and 9-of-10 at the charity stripe.

Bowdoin 73,
Williams 47

The Polar Bears never trailed in rolling to a 73-47 Senior Day win over Williams on Saturday.

Bowdoin ended the weekend with a 21-1 record, 7-1 in the NESCAC, while the Ephs fell to 11-11 (3-5 NESCAC).

Bowdoin opened the game with the first six points and led 11-1 midway through before ending the quarter with a 17-3 edge.

Lauren Petit had a game-high 14 points in the win, while Hassan added 12 and Kerrigan six points and five rebounds. Gabby Martin led Williams with 12 points.