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Volume CXXXIII, Number 17 |
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Basketball takes NESCAC title
BETH KOWITT
ORIENT STAFF
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| Senior Captain Lora Trenkle '04 fends off a Bates defender. The women's basketball team will play in the first round of the NCAA Division III championship against Salve Regina tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. (Hans Law, Bowdoin Orient) |
In one of the squad's closest games of the season, the Bowdoin Women's Basketball Team defeated Bates for its fourth consecutive NESCAC Championship in a battle that went into the final minutes of overtime.
From the first half of the game, it seemed that the Polar Bears would clinch an easy win over the Bobcats. The scoring was kicked off by sophomore Vanessa Russell's three pointer, and after a tight exchange of scoring, the women went on a 15-0 run and held Bates scoreless for just over nine minutes at the end of the first period.
"The atmosphere in the gym was absolutely incredible," said senior captain Courtney Trotta. "It was probably the loudest, most intense gym we've ever played in, and the fact that it was our crowd bringing it was awesome."
At halftime, the Polar Bears were up 30-11, and their stellar defense had kept the Bobcats at 17 percent shooting.
"In the first half, the pressure from our press forced them to make turnovers and slowed down the pace of their game," said senior captain Lora Trenkle. "Justine [Pouravelis '06] and Alison [Smith '05] made some terrific defensive plays during the game, which boosted our morale and intensity in the first half."
The second half was almost a reversal of the first. Bates cut the lead to 14 points only two minutes in. Bowdoin had some trouble from the field and couldn't answer to Bates's 8-0 run. With just eight minutes left on the clock, Bates had cut the deficit down to three.
"In the second half, Bates increased their intensity and the game battled down to some crucial possession in the end," said Trenkle.
After a scoring exchange, Bates had Bowdoin's lead down to one point with just over a minute and a half left. Eileen Flaherty '07 stepped up and sunk one for Bowdoin, which was answered by a Bates free throw and basket to tie up the game at 43 points apiece at the end of second period.
Trotta explained that the game was not as nerve racking for the team as it was for the fans. "We had done break down and situation drills all week, so we had worked a lot with the idea of being in a close game or down in games," she said.
Bates was the first to score in overtime, hitting two free throws and a lay up. After that, Bowdoin stepped it up going on an 8-0 run. Free throws seemed to be the key to overtime play for the team, which shot 84.6 percent for the game from the line, with Trenkle hitting five in overtime play and Erika Nickerson '05 one. Nickerson also hit a jumper to regain the lead. The game ended 51-47 in Bowdoin's favor.
"This is a game where you have to play 40 minutes of basketball to beat this team," explained Trenkle.
Trenkle finished the game with 11 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. She led the team in each category. Flaherty also hit double digits with ten points. Nickerson had nine, Russell had eight, and Pouravelis had seven points, two bocks, and two steals. Smith had a game high of three blocks.
The team had an easier time against Williams on Saturday with a 68-51 win for the NESCAC Semifinals.
Williams took the lead, but Bowdoin fought back to gain a nine point lead seven minutes into the game. Despite some foul troubles, the team was up 37-25 at the half.
The second half wasn't as promising for the Polar Bears as the Ephs cut the lead down to four points with 16:30 left in the period. Trenkle hit a jumper to get things started for the Bears, who had reclaimed a solid 48-35 win with 12 minutes to go on the clock. The Ephs would never get any closer to the Bears's lead than eight points, and the women held on to seal the win.
"We didn't do a great job of taking away their strengths as a team and knew that in order to play good Bowdoin basketball, we needed to limit our turnovers and prevent their two star players from dominating the game," said Trenkle.
Trenkle had a game high of 21 points, followed by Flaherty, who led with ten rebounds and 14 points. Pouravelis hit double digits with ten points, clinched seven rebounds, six steals, and three blocks.
The number one, newly crowned NESCAC Champions (26-0) will play Salve Regina at home at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
"Our only mindset now is to be playing the best basketball we can during the tournament," said Trotta. "We've met our two goals of the season, and our last one is to play with confidence and courage in the tournament. We're still looking at the small things and are just trying to keep playing for the next weekend."
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