Courtesy Bates Sports Information

Box Score

LEWISTON, Maine - Second-seed Bowdoin College secured the 2006 NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday with a 68-58 victory over top-seed Bates College. The Polar Bears overcame a 26-19 halftime deficit to secure their sixth consecutive NESCAC Women's Basketball crown.

Sophomore Marisa Berne scored 18 points and junior Julia Loonin added 17, all in the second half, to lead four players in double figures for the Polar Bears (24-2), who snapped Bates' 23-game home win streak.

Sophomore Sarah Barton led Bates (19-8) with 15 points and seven assists, while junior Meg Coffin, who struggled with foul trouble all game long, had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

It was the fourth straight year Bowdoin has defeated Bates for the conference championship, but the first time it has happened on Bates' home floor.

Bates jumped out to a 10-0 lead with 3-pointers by Barton and Jackie Powers, and led by as many as 11 (24-13) with 3:42 to play in the first half, as the Polar Bears had the worst of both teams' struggles shooting, 8-for-34 (23.5 percent) to Bates' 9-for-25 (36.0 percent).

But Bowdoin began to claw back late in the half and gained significant momentum by the time senior Justine Pouravelis drove for a layup and was fouled by senior Annie Whiting with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, shrinking Bates' lead to 26-19 at the half.

The Polar Bears wasted little time getting into a groove that would last for the entirety of the second half. Loonin canned a three and drove for a layup to cut the deficit to 28-26.

After Coffin converted underneath off an inbounds pass from Barton, Berne nailed one of her four threes from the corner, on a kickout from Pouravelis to make it 30-29.

Coffin was whistled for her fourth foul with 14 minutes left in the game, and seconds later Eileen Flaherty hit a layup for Bowdoin's first lead at 31-30.

Flaherty then converted a pair of free throws and answered Barton's floater in the lane with a three-point play to make it 36-32. Kyla Decato banked in a 3-pointer for Bates, but Berne answered right back with a three of her own.

Coffin re-entered the game with 9:20 left and and hit a bank shot to make it 45-41 Bowdoin, and Barton followed with a three-pointer over the top of Bowdoin's zone defense to close the gap to 45-44, prompting a Bowdoin timeout with 8:21 to play.

But Loonin popped in a three out of the timeout, and after both teams went scoreless for two minutes, first-year Alexa Kaubris nailed a three from the right wing to give the Polar Bears a seven-point cushion at 53-46.

A foul shot by Flaherty, who scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half, was followed by a three-point play by Loonin, giving Bowdoin a comfortable 57-46 edge with three minutes to go.

Pouravelis scored 10 points and had a team-high 11 rebounds and three steals for Bowdoin, while Berne also had a double-double with 10 boards. Flaherty had nine rebounds, while Loonin had five to go with a team-high four assists.

Sophomore Matia Kostakis had eight points and nine rebounds for Bates. Powers added eight points and three assists, and Decato had six points and five boards off the bench.

2006 NESCAC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarterfinals - Saturday, February 18 at Higher Seeds
at No. 1 Bates 65, No. 8 Colby 44
at No. 2 Bowdoin 52, No. 7 Tufts 41
at No. 3 Wesleyan 72, No. 6 Trinity 42
at No. 4 Williams 55, No. 5 Amherst 39

Semifinals - Saturday, February 25 at Bates
at No. 1 Bates 71, No. 4 Williams 55
No. 2 Bowdoin 61, No. 3 Wesleyan 46

Championship - Sunday, 26
No. 2 Bowdoin 68, at No. 1 Bates 58