BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's basketball team gave top-ranked Amherst all it could handle in a 63-59 win for the Jeffs on Friday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

The win was easily the most competitive of the season for Amherst (16-0, 4-0 NESCAC), who had not seen a team come closer than 19 points in any prior game this season. The Polar Bears fall to 11-5 (2-2 NESCAC) with the setback.

Caroline Stedman led Amherst with 17 points and became the 12th player in program history to surpass 1,000 points. Kim Fiorentino had 15 points while Jackie Renner added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the visitors.

Bowdoin's Jill Henrikson led all players with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Kaitlin Donahoe had 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

The teams played an evenly-matched opening half that featured six ties scores with neither team opening up more than a four-point lead. The Jeffs opened up a three-point edge on a jumper from Fiorentino with 2:34 to go in the half, but Bowdoin held Amherst scoreless for the remainder of the frame and evened the score at 29 on a Henrikson hoop-and-harm heading into halftime.

The Jeffs came out of the locker room on an 11-2 run and extended their lead to a game-high 14 points on a Fiorentino three-pointer with 10:05 to go. Bowdoin started chipping away at the lead, using a Henrikson trifecta to key a 6-0 spurt to close the gap to 51-45 with 4:57 remaining. Another 7-0 surge later in the period drew Bowdoin to within a single point, 55-54, after an Alexa Barry lay-in with 2:08.

But Fiorentino responded for the Jeffs, driving to the hoop for an off-balance lay-up on the next possession to push the lead back to three points. Amherst went 6-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to hang on to win.

Amherst held Bowdoin to just 30.2% shooting for the game, including 3-13 from three-point range. Amherst struggled from the field as well, connecting on just 37.3% from the field, including a 4-19 effort from long range. The Jeffs held a 39-36 edge on the glass.