BOWDOIN COLLEGE women’s basketball players react after beating Ithaca on Saturday to advance to the NCAA’s Division III Sweet Sixteen.
Jill Henrikson of Bath scored 18 points and Gould finished with 11 for the Polar Bears (21-7), who return to the “Sweet Sixteen” for the third consecutive year and 10th time in the last 12 seasons. Bowdoin will face George Fox at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., this upcoming Friday (time to be announced).
Ithaca rallied to take a 14-13 lead with 4:21 to go in the half on a jumper by guard Mary Kate Tierney. The rest of the half saw three more lead changes as Bowdoin took a 22- 20 edge into intermission.
Both squads found their footing in the second half and the teams traded blows until a three-point play by Tierney gave the Bombers their biggest lead (42-38) with 6:36 remaining. However, Henrikson scored seven straight points for the Polar Bears, including her lone 3-pointer, to draw her team even at 45-45 with 4:46 to go.
Bowdoin appeared to have the game put away after a 6-0 run — keyed by an Alexa Barry three-point play — for a 51-45 edge with 2:27 remaining. But, the Bombers rallied with a 6-0 run of their own highlighted by a Jenn Escobido jumper and tied the game for the 10th time, 51-51, with just 45 seconds remaining.
Henrikson drove the endline for a running lay-in that came to the waiting hands of Gould on the weak side of the rim. Gould put the second chance to good use by rattling home the put- back with 34 ticks left to give Bowdoin a 53- 51 edge. Devin Shea missed a jumper on the other end for Ithaca and Gould grabbed another clutch board. The senior sealed the win with a pair of free throws with under 15 seconds left.
Bowdoin was outrebounded 43- 31 and surrendered 16 offensive rebounds to Ithaca, but held the Bombers to just 33.9 percent shooting for the game. The Polar Bears connected on just 37.5 percent from the field, but nailed 16 of 18 free throws.
Henrikson hit nine of 11 from the charity stripe for her game- high 18 points to go with three assists and three steals. Gould had 11 points and a team- high eight rebounds. Allie Piscina pitched in nine points off the bench for Bowdoin.
Shea led Ithaca with 14 points. Kathryn Campbell had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bombers.
Bowdoin improved to 3-0 all-time against Ithaca. This was the team’s first meeting in NCAA Tournament play.
In addition to George Fox, Bowdoin’s regional will also include Mary Washington and Lebanon Valley.
On Friday, Bowdoin rallied from a seven- point second half deficit to defeat the University of Southern Maine, 75-68, in the opening round.
The Polar Bears avenged an early- season loss to the Huskies and reached 20 victories for the 12th time in the last 13 seasons.
Kaitlin Donahoe led four Bowdoin players in double digits with 20 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Amy Hackett scored 14 points, while Henrikson added 12 points and six rebounds. Piscina was the difference in the game, pitching in 13 points off the bench, including eight in the second half for the Polar Bears.
Courtney Cochran’s 20 points and 17 rebounds paced Southern Maine. She made 10 of 12 attempts from the line. Nicole Garland contributed 17 points, and Jordan Grant added 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals off the bench.
A quick start by Bowdoin was capped by a 3-pointer by Donahoe midway through the opening period, giving the Polar Bears a 25-14 lead. The Huskies responded with a 13-0 run to gain the lead and carried a 36-32 edge into intermission.
Southern Maine pushed its lead to seven points, 43- 36, after a Cochran free throw with 14:34 remaining. Piscina sparked a quick 11-4 surge for Bowdoin with a 3- pointer from the wing and Donahoe drew the Polar Bears even with another trifecta to deadlock the contest at 47 apiece with 11:16 to go.
The game was tied five times and the lead changed hands on four occasions over the next five minutes until, with 5:34 remaining, Megan Phelps keyed a decisive 9-2 run for Bowdoin, hitting a 3- pointer with 3:25 left to push the lead to 67-60.
The Huskies held a 43- 38 edge on the glass, but committed 22 turnovers.
Men’s hockey
Third-seeded Middlebury erupted for four goals in the second period en route to a 6-3 victory over second-seeded Bowdoin College in the NESCAC semifinals at Orr Rink in Amherst, Mass.
Rebounding from a slow 7-8- 3 start, Middlebury has gone 7- 1 over its last eight to advance to its 12th NESCAC final. The Panthers improved to 5-0 all-time against Bowdoin in NESCAC Tournament play.
Bowdoin, which had lost just once in the last two months, dropped to 16-6-3.
Polar Bear goaltender Steve Messina made three sterling saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, stoning Brett Brazier, George Ordway and Martin Drolet. Bowdoin was outshot 12-3 in the opening frame.
Middlebury jumped on top with two goals within 36 seconds in the middle period. Tom Cantwell set up Charlie Strauss in front of Messina for a 1- 0 edge, and Chris Brown slid a pass to Tucker Donahoe to give the Panthers a two-goal edge.
The third-seed kept coming, getting two goals from Drolet, including one while Middlebury was shorthanded, for a 4-0 lead through two periods.
Daniel Weiniger gave Bowdoin some life, lifting a wrister of the shoulder of Middlebury goaltender Dan Fullam with 12 minutes left, and Nick Wetzel cut the Panthers’ lead in half moments later to make it a 4-2 game.
But, Alex Walsh scored with six minutes remaining to give the Panthers a threegoal edge, and Trevor Pollock scored an empty-netter after Bowdoin’s Rob MacGregor, assisted by Ollie Koo, had moved the Polar Bears to within two goals again.
Fullam made 24 saves, while Messina had 19 stops.
Women’s hockey
Amherst scored a single goal and used a stifling defensive effort to edge Bowdoin, 1- 0, in the NESCAC semifinals on Saturday at Middlebury College.
Amherst (21-4-1) advanced to the NESCAC championship game for the sixth straight year, while Bowdoin ended its season with a record of 12-10-4.
Following a scoreless first period, Amherst took a 1- 0 lead just 28 seconds into the second. Tori Salmon carried the puck into the zone from the blue line, cutting to the slot and scoring with a backhander for her sixth of the season.
The Jeffs nearly struck again at 5: 37, but Bowdoin goaltender Kayla Lessard (22 saves) denied shots from Emily Vitale and Courtney Baranek from close range.
Bowdoin’s Kim Tess-Wanat had a good look at 9:02, but her backhander went just over the crossbar.
Each team failed to take advantage of a power play in the first half of the third period, with Lessard denying Ellen Swiontkowski on a power play after a great pass from Salmon. Tess-Wanat had an opportunity for Bowdoin at 14: 15, but her snap shot from the left wing went wide.
Bowdoin went on the power play at the 16:35 mark of the third period, but failed to score the equalizer.
Indoor track
The Bowdoin men’s distance relay team took first place to headline a weekend of strong performances for the Polar Bear indoor track team at the ECAC Championship.
The Bowdoin men placed 10th out of 62 scoring teams, while the women earned a 17th-place showing.
Bowdoin’s four-man team of Coby Horowitz, Matthew Gamache, Colin Fong and Matthew Hillard won the DMR in a time of 9:54.66, edging Bates by less than a second to take the crown.
Thewomen’s4x400-meter relay team of Emily Clark, Emily Barr, Alee Wade and Elsa Millett took second place at the event in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:52.92.
Individually, Erin Silva placed fifth in the pole vault, breaking her own school record with a height of 11-11.75.
Brett Stein took the top individual finish of the weekend for Bowdoin by placing fourth in the 500 ( 1: 05.46). James Boeding took fifth in the 1,000 (2:30.22), while Chris Genco finished in a tie for fifth in the high jump ( 6- 03.50).
Chantal Croteau was sixth in the one mile (5:05.30)
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