BRUNSWICK, Maine - Katie Bergeron and Jill Henrikson scored 18 points apiece to lead the Bowdoin College women's basketball team to a victory over the University of Southern Maine in their home opener on Tuesday night at Morrell Gymnasium. The Polar Bears improve to 3-1 overall this season while the Huskies drop to 3-3.

Alexa Barry pitched in 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Polar Bears while Lauren Rousseau paced the Huskies with 13 points off the bench. Courtney Cochran added nine points and a game-high 21 rebounds for USM.

Southern Maine opened up a five point lead late in the first period after Rousseau netted a three-pointer from the wing to make it 23-18 with under three minutes left in the period. But the Polar Bears closed the half on an 11-0 run, sparked by a Henrikson trifecta, to take a 29-23 edge at the break.

Bowdoin was able to push their lead to 13 points midway through the second half, after Alexa Barry buried a hoop-and-harm to increase the Polar Bear advantage to 47-34. USM chipped away at the lead thanks to a pair of Kaylie DeMillo three-pointers and were able to trim the lead to three points, 52-49, after a pair of Renee Nicholas free throws with 4:05 to go. But Bergeron scored seven points in the closing minutes as the Polar Bears finished the game on an 11-2 run to seal the win.

Bowdoin held a 45-38 edge on the boards as neither team shot particularly well from the field. The Polar Bears connected on 34.5% of their shots while USM hit on 34.6%. After a slow start from the charity stripe, Bowdoin finished 19-29 from the line. Southern Maine went 7-16.