NEW YORK, N.Y. – In a battle between two of the nation's top Division III women's basketball teams, the top-ranked NYU Violets survived Bowdoin, 78-75, on Friday evening. It was the toughest test of the season for NYU (10-0), whose previous closest margin of victory this season had been 11 points. The Polar Bears (8-2) drop their second game of the season to a nationally-ranked opponent.
Game Highlights
- In a back-and-forth contest between a pair of heavyweights, the game featured 18 lead changes and 13 tie scores.
- NYU held a slim 20-19 edge after the first quarter, and maintained their one-point lead at the break, 40-39, on a buzzer-beater by Caroline Peper.
- Sydney Jones singlehandedly kept Bowdoin within striking distance over the first twenty minutes, shooting 8-11 from the field and 4-5 from three point range, contributing 24 of Bowdoin's 39 first-half points.
- The Violets made a bid to pull away in the third quarter, building their largest lead of the contest, 56-46, thanks to an 11-3 run.
- Bowdoin was able to chip away at the lead thanks to late buckets from Carly Davey and Caroline Godfrey to close the gap to 60-55 entering the fourth quarter.
- Still trailing by five points, 65-60, with under seven minutes to play, Bowdoin rolled off an 8-1 run, sparked by an Annie Boasberg layup and capped by a Maria Belardi three-pointer to take a 68-66 lead with 4:16 to go.
- The teams traded buckets until two minutes to go, when a driving bucket by Belardi gave Bowdoin a late 75-73 lead.
- The Polar Bears couldn't hold on, however, as a pair of late turnovers led to a game-closing 5-0 run by the hosts to take the win.
By The Numbers
- Sydney Jones finished with a game-high 28 points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
- Carly Davey scored ten points with four assists while Tori Beck had nine points and Caroline Godfrey added eight with six boards and four steals.
- The Polar Bears finished at 41% shooting for the game, including 47% from long distance (11-23) while NYU connected on 49% from the field in the win.
- Bowdoin owned a 44-34 edge in rebounding while NYU blocked 11 shots.
- The win by NYU was their first over Bowdoin since the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The Polar Bears had ended the Violets season in the last two meetings between the squads in the 2015 and 2020 NCAA Tournaments.
Up Next
- Bowdoin will continue its challenging road slate on Wednesday, January 4, when they play at 13th-ranked Springfield at noon.
