BRUNSWICK, Maine – The Bowdoin College women's basketball team jumped to an early lead and never looked back, cruising to a 78-60 win over Tufts on Saturday in the NESCAC Quarterfinals.
 
The top-seeded Polar Bears (23-2) will host the NESCAC Championship next weekend in Morrell Gymnasium, where they will face fourth-seeded Middlebury in the semifinals at 2:00 p.m. Saturday. Bates and Trinity will play in the second semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. The winners will play on Sunday in the NESCAC title game at noon. Tufts finishes it season with a record of 11-13.
 
Tickets for the NESCAC semifinal games will go on sale to the general public Tuesday at noon at GoUBears.com. Student tickets will be available on Thursday at noon.  
 
Game Highlights

• After trading buckets in the early going, Bowdoin's offense exploded for a 14-0 run to take control of the game and open up an 18-4 edge just 5:45 into the contest.
• Sydney Jones sparked the run with seven early points, and became the 20^th Polar Bear in program history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark with a three-pointer from the wing just three minutes into the contest.
• Tufts used a late surge in the opening quarter to cut the Bowdoin lead to ten points, 27-17 after one period, and came to within seven points, just seconds into the second stanza, 29-22, after a Callie O'Brien jumper.
• But Bowdoin answered with a Megan Tan three-pointer and a lay-up by Sydney Jones to push the lead back to double-digits, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
• The Polar Bears outscored Tufts 11-4 over the final five minutes of the second quarter, carried an 17-point lead (48-31) into halftime and led by as many as 31 points in the second half on their way to the win.

By The Numbers

• Bowdoin finished at 47% shooting in the contest, including eight three-pointers, while holding Tufts to 38% from the field for the game.
• Sydney Jones posted a double-double, registering a game-high 25 points on 10-16 shooting from the field, including ten boards, five assists and no turnovers. She blew past the 1,000-point barrier and  with 1,019 points vaulted into 18^th place on Bowdoin's career scoring list.
• Eight players scored six or more points in a balanced attack for Bowdoin, as Megan Tan (11 points, six rebounds, two steals) helped lead the effort. Carly Davey had seven points and seven assists while Jess Giorgio, Jai Duval, and Abbie Quinn also put seven on the board.
• Bowdoin won the rebounding battle 42-30 and scored 17 points off 11 Tufts turnovers.

Up Next

• Bowdoin will face Middlebury in the NESCAC Semifinals next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Morrell Gymnasium. The teams played a tight regular season contest in Vermont in January with Bowdoin prevailing 68-65. Middlebury rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat Amherst in their quarterfinal game, 59-48.
• Tickets for the NESCAC semifinal doubleheader will be available to the general public Tuesday at noon at GoUBears.com. Bowdoin student tickets will be available at noon Thursday.