BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Bowdoin College women's basketball team dealt Williams College its second loss of the season in a 62-53 victory at Morrell Gymnasium on Friday evening. The Ephs (19-2, 5-1 NESCAC) have not won in Brunswick since 1998-99, a stretch of nine-straight games, while the Polar Bears (17-4, 3-3 NESCAC) have won 15 of its last 16 meetings against Williams overall.
Three Polar Bears finished in double figures, led by 11 points and eight rebounds from Jill Henrikson. Katie Bergeron added a dozen points, thanks to 8-8 shooting from the charity stripe, while Colleen Sweeney had 10 points and a career-best seven assists. Grace Rehnquist buried five three-pointers for Williams to lead the team with 19 points. Claire Baecher added 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Bowdoin carried a 12-point lead into intermission thanks to a balanced attack and tough defense. Seven different Polar Bears scored, led by eight from Sweeney, as Bowdoin netted six three-pointers and forced 12 turnovers in the period. Bowdoin held Williams to just 25% shooting from the field and led 31-19 at the break.
The Polar Bears pushed their lead to 14 points early in the second half, 35-21, on a Sweeney jump shot that beat the shot clock. But a furious 19-5 rally by Williams brought the Ephs back into the contest, and when Baecher nailed a three-pointer with 13:02 remaining, the visitors had come all the way back to tie the contest at 40 apiece.
The game settled into a back-and-forth defensive affair, as Bowdoin scored six-straight points over the span of three minutes to take a 48-42 lead with seven minutes to go. Williams closed to within two points on a Rehnquist trifecta with 3:30 to, 50-48, but Bowdoin sealed the win by going 10-10 from the free-throw line in the final three minutes.
Bowdoin went 19-20 from the stripe overall and forced 23 Williams turnovers.
Bowdoin senior Katie Bergeron was honored in a pre-game ceremony for becoming the 11th player in program history to reach 1,000 points. The Polar Bears will host Middlebury College on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
Photos courtesy of Brian Beard and Creative Images Photography.
