BRUNSWICK, Maine - The Bowdoin College women's basketball team never trailed en route to a dominating 75-49 win over Westfield State University on Friday evening in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Polar Bears (21-6) advance to Saturday's second round where they will battle NYU, a winner over Lehman earlier in the day, for a trip to the "Sweet Sixteen". The Owls end a fantastic season with a record of 20-8. The Polar Bears and Violets will play at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.

Game Highlights

• Bowdoin left little doubt of the eventual outcome as they took a 11-4 lead after six minutes of action
• Westfield State trimmed the lead to 11-7 following a Jill Valley three-pointer, but Bowdoin answered with a 9-0 run to end the period, capped by a Shannon Brady lay-up, to take a 20-7 lead after one quarter
• The Polar Bears continued to roll, opening the second period on a 10-2 surge, ended by four straight points from Emily Campbell, to push the lead to 30-9 midway through the frame
• Bowdoin carried an 18-point lead into halftime, 38-20
• Westfield used a brief spurt early in the second half to trim the lead to 15 points, 45-30, following a Ece Elder three-pointer with 5:34 on the clock
• Bowdoin squelched all thoughts of a comeback with a 13-1  run that built the lead to 56-31 late in the period
• The Polar Bears led by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter en route to the win

By The Numbers

• Shannon Brady finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in the victory for Bowdoin
• Emily Campbell led a sensational effort by the Polar Bear reserves, scoring ten points to propel the Bowdoin bench in a 39-point effort.
• Abigail Kelly had a game-high ten rebounds for Bowdoin while Kate Kerrigan set a new Bowdoin NCAA Tournament record with ten assists while also pitching in eight rebounds
• Hannah Graham pitched in a trio of big three-pointers for the Polar Bears
• Westfield State was held to a season-low 49 points in the loss
• Valley scored a dozen points to lead the Owls while Forbasaw Nkamebo added ten for the visitors
• Bowdoin held a commanding 63-44 advantage on the glass
• The Polar Bears improve to 19-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament play in Morrell Gymnasium

Up Next

• Bowdoin will battle NYU at 7:00 p.m. in Morrell Gymnasium. Tickets will be available when the doors open at 6:00 p.m.
• It will be the second-ever meeting between the teams, who last met in the sectional semifinals of the 2001 NCAA Tournament - a 64-60 NYU victory