BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's basketball team dominated the second half of a 70-56 win over Wesleyan on Friday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

With the win, the Polar Bears improve to 17-6 (6-3 NESCAC) while the Cardinals drop to 13-7 (5-4 NESCAC) this season. Bowdoin will host Connecticut College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and can clinch the third seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament with a win. Wesleyan will travel to play at Colby with a home quarterfinal berth on the line.

Jill Henrikson scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the second half for the Polar Bears, who shot 57.7% from the field in the second stanza to earn the win. She also collected seven rebounds and added five assists. Allie Piscina was crucial off the bench for Bowdoin, scoring 12 points and swiping six steals in the victory. Kellyann Rooney scored a game-high 17 points in the loss for Wesleyan while Eileen Gaffney pitched in 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite shooting just 28.1% from the field, Bowdoin shrugged off a slow start to rally for a 25-25 tie at halftime. The teams traded buckets in the second half before the Polar Bears rolled off a 9-0 run, keyed by an Alexa Barry lay-in and continued on a three-pointer from Sara Binkhorst to give the hosts a 44-36 lead with 13:50 to go. The Cardinals were able to trim the lead to five points on two occasions with under 11 minutes to go, but Bowdoin put the game out of reach with an 8-0 surge, capped by an Amy Hackett steal and fast break lay-in that upped the lead to 55-42 with five minutes to go.

The teams were even on the boards, 31-31, but Bowdoin forced 28 Wesleyan turnovers and nailed 10-22 from three-point range in the win.